


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

by SlytherinQueenLillian



Series: Every moment and its Butterflies [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 83,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27176623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinQueenLillian/pseuds/SlytherinQueenLillian
Summary: It's strange to think that a single moment can change a life, in this case it changed many. When Voldemort chose to spare Lily Potter's life, keeping his promise to Snape he changed the magical world forever.If Harry hears one more snigger, one more suggestion that he's either insane of attention seeking he's going to snap. Voldemort is back, whether or not anyone wants to believe it. Things take a turn for the worse when the Ministry puts an agent at Hogwarts, an agent determined to hurt Harry and his friends as much as possible. Harry doesn't think things can get any worse when he realises rather than info on his OWLs filling his head, he's reading Voldemort's mind!Warnings- None to start with but it's going to get darker as it goes on. There will be hurt much like in the original books.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum, Lily Evans Potter/Severus Snape, Pansy Parkinson/OC, Sirius Black/OC
Series: Every moment and its Butterflies [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983560
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

One of the many good things about Malfoy Manor being so big was that even now, during the hottest day, in the middle of the hottest summer they'd had for a while, there was still places to keep cool.

Harry had been struggling, he couldn't deny it. The first week of the holidays he'd needed a potion to be able to sleep, but they were very addictive if taken long term so Harry had been forced to get used to having the nightmares every night and feeling forever tired.

Today was good though; it was so nice to get out of the house, away from the smells that London normally had and that were made a hundred times worse with the heat. It was just nice to be out in the country away from everything. No one rushing passed the windows or yelling in the street, no one for literal miles.

They were only away from Grimmauld Place so that the protection charms could be placed. The old threat was back and it was time to get everyone that much more protected; better safe than sorry after all. There was a lot of magic floating around and Lily didn't want Danica or Harry in the firing line.

Seeing Malfoy Manor appear from nowhere in the middle of a big field as Harry was told its location was as amazing as it was confusing. Fidelius Charms were very powerful and, hopefully, would keep them all safe.

Harry wasn't sure what was worse; being stuck inside for his own safety or the fact his father was gone for so long, and knowing who he was with. There hadn't been a day gone by that Harry hadn't pictured Voldemort's face since he'd returned, he could see his red, slit eyes every time Harry closed his own green ones.

Harry felt his face get splashed with a large amount of cold water and grinned at Danica who was playing in the swimming pond.

“What was that for?” Harry demanded with a laugh.

“Come and play!” she begged, “Draco has managed to find more lilies than me! I need help to win! I must win!”

Harry grinned and pulled himself up. He stripped off to his swimming trunks and dived into the cool, fresh water. It was nice, not too cold but just right to be refreshing on such a hot day. Harry wasn't so interested in gathering water lilies, though, and just floated on his back.

Draco and Danica were giggling, splashing the water over each other and swimming around him. Harry floated, the cool water on his back and the sound of nothing but laughter and nature around him, he was completely relaxed.

He was back in the graveyard, the water slipping away from him replaced by hard stone, scraping against his skin.

“Kill the spare!”

There was a flash of bright, green light and Cedric's dead face was staring up at him. Everywhere around him was filled with laughing. Cold and cruel filling the air, coming from every direction around him, filling his ears and eyes and lungs.

He couldn't breathe. There was a muffled voice far away but he couldn't focus on it as his lungs screamed for air.

“Harry!” Draco yelled, pulling Harry from the water.

Harry coughed out the water he'd swallowed and gripped at the grass on the shoreline, trying not to keep panicking.

“What… what happened?” he coughed.

“You fell asleep.” Danica said, also climbing out of the water, “Then you started thrashing around and slipped under the water.”

Harry could have screamed in frustration, instead took several deep breaths, “I'm sorry, I was just… it was so peaceful in the water.”

Draco nodded, “Yes, well. Maybe be relaxed but not falling asleep relaxed when you're in water. Drowning bad. People tend to generally need air.”

Harry grinned, “Really? Never would have guessed.”

“Lets go inside.” Danica suggested, looking a little worried, wrapping a soft towel around Harry, “We'll get dried off and see if Petal can make us some of that really good hot chocolate? The stuff with the mini marshmallows?”

Harry wrapped her in a big hug and nodded into her wet hair, “Yep. Let's go.”

They wrapped themselves up tightly in the towels they'd brought with them and wondered back to the house. By the time they'd gotten there they were mostly dry, although smelling strongly of pond. Danica had gathered a large bunch of flowers from the gardens which she handed over to Narcissa as she opened the door.

“Thank you.” Narcissa smiled, “They're beautiful.”

“You're welcome.” Danica smiled, “Can we ask Petal for some hot chocolate? To warm up after swimming?”

Narcissa nodded, “Of course you can. I think she's in the drawing room, she'll be nearly finished cleaning it though, so go and get clean first please rather than making more mess for her.”

The three of them nodded and walked quickly through the house to Draco's rooms. Harry's room at Grimmauld place was bigger than average, Draco's old room was at least half as big again. His new suite was bigger than a lot of people's houses.

It had an impressive sitting room, a large kitchenette (not that Draco did much cooking), two bathrooms, one wet room and four bedrooms. Draco's things were mostly confined to his large master bedroom but he was slowly filling up the space.

“Petal has said she'll send someone up to help you in the bath, Danica.” Draco said, grabbing a large pile of fresh towels, “You take the big bathroom and have a play in the bath.”

Danica clapped her hands and ran off into the room. Harry didn't even need to look to know there would be a bath the size of the one in the Prefects bathroom at Hogwarts in the master bathroom. Danica would love every second of it.

“I'll take the shower.” Harry offered, “It will stop me from trying to drown myself by falling asleep again.”

Draco smirked, “That's a good idea I think.”

Harry went into the wet room and locked the door. There were already several towels hanging on the back of the door but Harry added the one that Draco had given him to the large pile. He stripped of his swimming trunks and moved under the hot shower stream that felt more like really heavy rain on his head.

It was nice, despite a lot of mud coming off his legs from where Draco had dragged him onto the bank and he felt a little guilty for making the room so dirty. He washed away the mud and used a musky smelling soap that was sat on the side of the sink.

He felt much better as he dried himself off and pulled on his clothes. He suspected Petal had them washed and dried while they'd been swimming and playing in the gardens as the large mucky patch that had been on Harry's jeans left knee was gone.

Draco was already out of the bath, sprawled on one of the sofas, reading a book.

“Danica's not out yet but Grem said she'll be out soon. It took her a while to actually make her wash rather than just swimming up and down the bath tub.” Draco smirked.

It wasn't long before Danica came out, dressed in her pale blue summer dress with pink flowers. She sat down on the sofa, in between Harry and Draco and looked over the book Draco was reading.

“Whatcha reading?” She asked, “That's a weird picture.”

Draco smirked, “It's just old, they had a different way of drawing things in the past. It's a Gorgóna Louloúdi, it means mermaid flower. It's a book about Herbology; it was my lowest mark last year and, what with the O.W.Ls coming up I want to get as much studying in as I can.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Draco you did perfectly well in Herbology! You still are well on track to get an Outstanding.”

“It was five marks less than my next lowest, I was fourth in the year.” Draco said firmly.

“Yes, after Hermione, who is always best, Daphne who is roughly where you are anyway and Neville, who is brilliant, more than brilliant at Herbology. You seriously have to chill with all this studying stuff.” Harry grinned.

Draco rolled his eyes; Harry would just never get how important his grades were to him so he'd mostly given up trying.

“Can I have a room this big when I’m a bit more grown up?” Danica asked, “I am getting to be grown up, I’m nearly seven.”

“Grimmauld place isn't big enough for all of us to have rooms this big.” Harry smiled, “You're just going to have to put up with your room as it is.”

“Besides,” Draco said, “Mother and Father only gave me this room so that they could send me out of the rest of the house for 'important meetings'.”

Harry felt his heart fall. Draco was right, there were more and more people coming back into the fold, being made aware of Voldemort's return. Lily was happy to have Harry and Danica in the house when the meetings were going on, as long as they stayed upstairs. Narcissa on the other hand was determined to keep Draco as far away from it all as possible, partly as they didn't yet know which side Dumbledore would ask them to fall on.

“Worth it to get a really nice room though.” Harry smirked, trying not to let his worry ruin their happy day.

Draco grinned, “True, very true.”

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Draco called, casually.

Lily walked slowly into the room, “Wow, Cissy wasn't kidding when she said she'd given you an upgrade. No getting any ideas you two.” she smirked at Harry and Danica.

Draco grinned, “Well you know...”

“It's nice, I like it.” Lily smiled, “Anyway I came to say that the spells are nearly done at home so it's time to go. We need to pop into the shops on the way home so think of what you want for your birthday dinner.”

Harry smiled and stretched, “We'll see you soon?” he said, turning to Draco.

Draco nodded, “Of course. I think Mother is actually thinking of coming to stay with you. Just for a day or two, she doesn't get on very well with…” he hated the fact they were having to play nice with the Death Eaters.

Harry smirked, “No one is getting on very well with them.”

Danica was scanning the book shelves, the ones she was tall enough to see, looking for a book, “Can I borrow this one?”

“Danica!” Lily chided, “You have enough books, and you forgot the magic word.”

“Please?” Danica asked, turning her large eyes towards Draco, “I'll look after it.”

Draco rolled his eyes, she was almost impossible to be annoyed at, “Which one is it?”

“About the water.” Danica said, showing him the cover.

It was an old book he'd had since he was a child about basic magical creatures that lived in the ocean.

“Yes, of course you can borrow it.” Draco smiled, “I think you'll like it. It has a huge passage on Narwhals. They're the only magical creature that is well known and sighted in the muggle world for what they are, of course muggles don't know their horns have the same properties as unicorns ones, but still.”

Danica grinned and jumped onto the sofa, looking through to try and find the bits on Narwhals.

“Danica,” Lily said, walking over and taking the book carefully from her, “It's time to go. Go and find your shoes.”

“But-”

“No.” Lily said, “Shoes, now.”

Danica let out a loud sigh and stomped dramatically out of the room, Lily following behind her.

“When did she turn into a teenager?” Draco asked.

Harry sighed, “Lets just say she's not really enjoying being at home right now. She's young, not stupid. She knows that something is going on, she knows something really bad happened to me at the end of last year but… well, how do you explain that to a six year old?”

Draco nodded his understanding, “Yeah, yeah I get that.”

They walked slowly out of Draco's room and down the long corridor. Most of the paintings had been taken down, there were too many faces there that were loyal to the pure blood ideals and Voldemort to leave them listening in.

“You know she can always come and stay with us for a while.” Draco offered, “Give her a bit of a break.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, thank you. I know, you've always been there for us.”

Harry and Draco found Lily and Danica in the entrance hall, both of them had their shoes on and were ready to go. Narcissa and Lucius were standing with them, talking about how pretty the flowers looked that Danica had picked earlier.

“Ready to go?” Lily asked.

Harry nodded, “Yep. I was thinking of having tacos for tea, for my birthday dinner? If that's OK?”

Lily smiled, “Of course. We can grab the stuff when we hit the shops.”

Harry wasn't really looking forward to this birthday, if he was honest. There was just too much going on but good food would help. Tacos were always a fun meal. He was also looking forward to having his friends over, it was always easier with them around.

It was the moments when he was alone that Harry really felt the weight of everything that had happened. It was too much, far too much for a fourteen, nearly fifteen year old, to wrap his head around.

“Harry?” Narcissa asked softly, “Are you all right?”

Harry looked round to her and blinked, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Lucius asked, “You seemed to have gotten a little lost in your thoughts for a moment there.”

Harry forced a smile, “Yeah… seem to be doing that a lot at the moment.”

“You'll be OK.” Draco said.

Lily wrapped him in a hug and kissed the top of his head, he was so tall now she had to stand on tip toe to do so.

She held Danica tightly in the other hand and turned on the spot, leaving Malfoy Manor with a loud pop.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Harry, Lily and Danica landed in a filthy ally not far from home. Lily managed to stop Danica from jumping in the muddy puddles that were more thick mud that water as they went out into the sunshine.

Harry put his hand up to shield his eyes from the glare. He knew where they were. It was near a big Tesco that was also near a large park. Lily, Severus and Sirius had taken him to this park since he was tiny. They would go shopping, normally with a detailed list from Kreacher, and then they would get to go to the park, it made shopping more bearable for him when he was little.

On hot summer days they would get to go to the park first, and then they would take Harry for ice cream or an ice lolly. Today, it seemed, was too hot for many children to be playing in the park, the grass had grown dry and dusty from the lack of rain, most children were in the new, nearby pool rather than the park.

Lily grabbed a shopping trolley and pulled out the list. Written in big neat letters over the top was 'Harry's birthday food!'.

They made their way through the isles, Harry grabbing things when he was asked and putting them neatly in the trolley.

“Danica, rice pudding rice.” Lily said, “Harry, do you want wraps with your tacos?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, why not.” he smiled.

Lily smiled, “Your wish is my command. Danica stop trying to take the book out of my bag.”

“Mummy I’m bored!” Danica said, “It's too hot in here.”

Lily sighed, she couldn't argue there. She pulled a couple of pounds out of her bag and handed them to Harry, “Could you go and get some ice creams and then wait in the park for me? How does that sound?”

Danica's face lit up, “Yes please Mummy.”

Lily gave her a tight squeeze and handed the money to Harry. He took Danica's hand and led her quickly to the freezer section.

“So what do you want?” he asked.

Danica picked out a box of strawberry splits. They paid for them and went over to the park. Harry helped Danica onto the swing and then sat down next to her, handing her an ice lolly.

“You know I used to love twisting round on these and then it spins you back really really fast. It's good fun.” Harry grinned.

Danica smiled, “Can I ask you something?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah of course.”

Danica pushed at the ground with the toe of her shoe, “Something bad is going to happen, isn't it?”

Harry looked down at the ground, “What do you mean?”

Danica shrugged, “I don't know, it's just… it's like there is something bad going to happen. There are always people coming to the house now and talking in whispers, I’m six, but I’ve got a good brain in my head! It works and everything!”

Harry let out a laugh, he couldn't help it, “No, no you are anything but stupid, your brain works very well. And yes, something bad is coming but you don't have to worry about that.”

“What?” Danica asked, “What's coming?”

Harry didn't want to tell her, he took a bite of his ice cream to buy himself sometime.

“There was once someone very bad…” Harry started.

“Like the Evil Queen? From Snow White?” Danica asked.

Harry grinned, “Yeah, a lot like the Evil Queen. The difference is that they want to be the most powerful in all the land, rather than the prettiest.”

“So they killed James?” Danica asked, “Your Daddy?”

Harry looked at her wide eyed, “How did you…?”

Danica shrugged, “Mum always said it was a bad man who killed James and you said that this was a bad person like the evil queen.”

Harry frowned, they were going to need to be even more careful than before about what they said around Danica; she was putting things together way too quickly.

“Smarty pants.” Harry grinned.

Danica smiled, “You know it's going to be OK? Snow White wins, so you and Mummy and Daddy will win. And then you can make the bad person dance to death in white hot shoes too!.”

Harry spat out his ice cream in shock, “What books have you been reading?”

Danica smiled evilly, “Mummy said I could always read fairy stories… she didn't say they had to come from _my_ bookshelf.”

“I'm telling.” Harry said.

Danica laughed. She looked at her ice cream, “Do you want the rest of this. It's too cold.”

“It's ice cream.” Harry smirked, rolling his eyes, “It's meant to be cold, just eat it slower so it doesn't hurt your head.”

Danica rolled her eyes at him and sighed, “No, I meant it's getting too cold out here.”

Harry looked around; it was getting cold, very cold in fact and they were now the only ones here; everyone else had left. Even the sky was getting darker now.

“I don't feel so good.” Danica mumbled, wrapping her arms around her chest and dropping her ice cream to the floor.

Harry felt his heart racing. He jumped up and pulled Danica off the swing, and pulled out his wand.

“We need to get back to Mum.” Harry said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice, “Now.”

“Is this the bad man?” Danica asked, her eyes growing wide.

Harry shook his head, “I… I don't think so but we need to get to Mum.”

Danica nodded and held tightly to Harry's hand as he led them out the park, the sky growing darker and colder with every step they took. Harry could feel every hair on the back of his neck stand on end and felt himself grow more and more miserable.

He had to keep moving, they had to keep moving. They were at the end of the street now, just cross over the road and then they would be at the shop. It would be two minutes.

Harry felt the first Dementor slam into him, knocking him to the ground. He let go of Danica's hand, and she stumbled forward. She turned round to see what happened to Harry and screamed at the sight of the hooded, black, Dementor towering over Harry.

Danica felt the scream leave her throat, “HARRY!”

Harry pushed himself to a sitting position and grabbed his wand, “Run! Danica Run to Mum! NOW!”

Danica didn't want to leave Harry alone, she couldn't think straight she was so scared.

“Danica run!” Harry screamed.

Danica nodded and ran off towards the shop.

Harry saw a second Dementor swooping after her. He thought of a happy moment, forced himself to let it fill every corner of his mind and pointed his wand at the Dementor chasing Danica.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” Harry yelled.

The stag burst from the end of her wand and chased down the Dementor, sending it flying away from Danica, who let out another scream but kept running. The stag turned and started to run back, to help Harry when the Dementor over him knocked his head back, clutching at his neck, sucking at his happiness.

Harry felt himself grow cold, the thing moving closer and closer to him, leaning in towards his mouth. The Dementor pulled back his hood, it's scaly, black mouth moving in towards Harry's face.

A small part of Harry's brain was yelling at him to fight back, to protect himself. He felt his brain clouding over, it would be so much easier to just give up…

Harry forced himself to raise his wand and a faint wispy shield managed to push the Dementor off him. He fell backwards, hitting his head off the ground.

“Ex… Expecto Patronum!” He yelled, with as much force as he could. His stage burst from the tip of his wand again and charged the Dementor away.

Harry flopped back down, his head was hurting, both from where he'd hit it and from his scar, he was completely exhausted. He lay there, for what felt like hours before he heard footsteps running towards him.

“Harry!! HARRY!!” Lily screamed, skidding to a stop and dropping to her knees next to him, “What.. what happened? Harry you're bleeding!”

Harry felt her grip his arms and sit him up. She pressed something against the back of his head, it sent a sharp stab of pain shooting through to his eyes.

“There was… a Dementor…” Harry mumbled, trying to think.

“A Dementor? Here?” Lily gasped.

Harry nodded, “Two of them.”

He could feel his mother start to worry; Dementor attacks like this were unheard of, at least now. Back during the war they had been more common. This was not a good sign.

“Do you think it was him?” Harry asked, “Voldemort? He said that the Dementors would go to him.”

Lily shook her head, “No… no it's too soon, it's not been long enough for him to gather that sort of support.”

“Danica?” Harry asked, trying to look around.

Lily held him tightly, “She's fine. She found me, I’d just finished paying for the shopping when she ran in. I came as soon as I could.”

Harry nodded, struggling to think straight and leant against her chest, listening to her comforting heartbeat.

“Do you think you can stand?” Lily asked.

“Yeah. Yeah I think so.” Harry said, letting Lily pull him to his feet.

He was woozy, the world spinning around him Harry had no choice but to lean heavily on his mother. They walked as quickly as Harry could manage towards the Tesco. The security guard looked worriedly at Harry and lead them to a quiet office room.

Danica was waiting just inside the door, holding a mostly full carton of juice, surrounded by shopping bags. Two security guards were standing nearby. She was white faced, the two security guards kept trying to talk to her but she just looked down at her feet and ignored them.

Danica caught sight of him and jumped up, “HARRY!”

Harry managed to force a smile, “I'm OK.”

“Your boy OK?” the nearest security guard asked.

Lily nodded, “He will be. He hit his head pretty badly when he… when he fell.”

Harry wasn't really listening, the adrenaline was wearing off now and all he could really think about was how much his head was hurting and how much he wanted to go home.

Both of the security guards looked rather worriedly at him,

“Do you want us to call you an ambulance?”

Lily shook her head, “No, thank you. I think I’d best just get him home, do you have a medical kit so I could dress this?” she asked, pointing to his head.

They nodded and helped Harry, to a chair and grabbed the medical box that hung on the wall.

“Do you need anything?” The security guards asked.

“No, thank you. We'll let ourselves out once I’ve got him a little cleaned up.” Lily informed them.

They smiled and nodded to her, closing the door behind them.

“This isn't as bad as it looks.” She reassured him, “Head wounds always bleed more than they should.”

Harry trusted she knew what she was talking about, and sat still while she dressed his head and cleaned away most of the blood.

“I'll do a better job when we get home, Severus can give you a potion to stop the concussion and Kreacher is better at the healing spells, it'll leave less of a scar. You ready to travel?” Lily asked.

Harry nodded, and then regretted it as his head felt like it was about to fall off and another bolt of pain shot through his scar. He slowly reached down and grabbed a couple of the shopping bags.

“Just leave it, Harry.” Lily said, smiling softly.

Harry grinned, “Nope. I want my tacos after all this.”

Lily sighed and smiled at her son's stubbornness, “Fine.”

She grabbed the rest of the shopping and led them out the shop, pausing to say thank you to the security guards for looking after Danica for her.

It wasn't a long walk to the back ally where they could apparate home but it felt like at least ten miles to Harry. He was determined that he was going to make it though and leaned heavily on the damp and dirty wall when they made it to the ally.

Lily slipped her wrist through the shopping bag loops so that she could hold onto Harry and Danica's out stretched hands. One quick turn later and Harry felt the warming smells of home appear around him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Harry felt his world spin for a second before he clutched at a wall.

“Harry? What happened?” Severus asked, pulling Harry into a hug.

“We'll explain in a moment.” Lily said, “Kreacher please take Danica and the shopping into the kitchen and put everything away. Harry has asked for tacos for his birthday dinner by the way.”

Kreacher shuffled his feet, “Kreacher doesn'ts wants to go intos the kitchen right nows.”

Lily took a deep breath, “I know, but the shopping has to go away.”

Kreacher muttered something under his breath and took the shopping bags, “Fine. But Missy Danica doesn't come intos the kitchen.”

“Oh My Goodness! What happened to you, you poor dear!” Molly Weasley cried, bustling into the hallway.

“On seconds thoughts kitchen sounds greats.” Kreacher said, leading Danica into the kitchen and locking the door behind them.

Severus moved in front of Harry slightly, “He'll be fine, Molly. I'm sure.”

“Well what happened? This is terrible! He's bleeding!” Molly said.

“Dining room.” Nikka said, pointing the way, and gesturing for them to go though.

Harry let his mother and father lead him into the neat dinning room and sat him down at the head of the table. Sirius and Nikka followed them in, Nikka shutting the door before Molly could come in, before sitting around the table.

“This looks very nasty.” Severus said, he flicked his wand and summoned an old box made out of several different types of wood. He placed his thumb on the latch and it sprung open, revealing a large selection of potion vials.

He pulled out a pale pink coloured potion and handed it to Harry, “Drink it all down.”

Harry did as he was asked and drank the strangely chocolatey flavoured potion. He felt immediately better, his head fog clearing and the feeling like he was about to throw up leaving him quickly.

“That's better, thank you.” Harry said, rubbing his head.

Lily sighed at the sight of the locked door that led towards the kitchen, “I was going to ask Kreacher to fix this, he would have done the neatest job.”

“You could always order him out of there.” Sirius suggested.

Lily shook her head, “No, it's fine. He's been a little stressed since… our guests moved in.”

Harry couldn't argue there. Kreacher hadn't been stressed at all when they first arrived, he'd cooked a large welcome meal and set the table with all the best china. It was when Molly started complaining about the state of the house and making suggestions with his cooking that his stress levels had started to climb.

Lily had always insisted that Harry and Danica help out with jobs around the house and learned to cook, she believed it was a skill they would need one day so it wasn't the help that Kreacher objected to, it had just been a long time sine anyone had told him he had done it all wrong and not said thank you for his help.

“I'll do it.” Nikka smiled, “Being a fully qualified and employed Auror, we do a medical section for field work.”

She moved over to Harry and raised her wand over his head. Harry felt a slight warmth on his head for a few moments before it vanished and he was left with no pain. He felt the familiar brush of a cleaning spell over the area.

“There you go.” Nikka said, “As good as new.”

Harry reached up and felt over the now fully healed tiny scar on the back of his head, “Thanks.”

“Is he all right?” Molly asked, coming into the room and gently pushing passed everyone till she could see Harry.

“I'm fine.” Harry said, forcing a smile.

Molly Weasley pulled him into a hug, “I'm so glad. Now I thought I would make a lovely pot roast for your birthday? It's in a couple of days isn't it?”

“Umm three, yeah.” Harry said, “But I think Kreacher was planning on making me ta-”

“Oh I’m happy to do it! There's a brilliant new beef gravy, as part of the 'Mrs Marie Hughes special sauces’, I think it'll work wonderfully.” Molly beamed.

“Really Molly, that's very kind.” Lily said, “But Harry really likes Kreacher's cooking and Kreacher was looking forward to it. Plus I don't think we've got enough in for everyone to have a pot roast.”

Molly waved her hand dismissively, “I'll talk to Kreacher. And don't worry about the ingredients, I'm very good at replicating so it's not a worry.”

There was a loud pop in the room causing everyone to jump.

“Hi Harry!” Fred beamed.

“Heard you got a knock on your head, you OK?” George asked.

Harry smirked, “Yeah I’m fine. No getting rid of me just yet.”

“Will you two stop using magic for everything?” Molly snapped, “Just because you can now doesn't mean that you should!”

She shooed them out of the room and Sirius quickly and quietly closed the door behind her. He took a deep breath and grinned, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to Harry.

“So?” he asked, “How did you injure yourself this time?”

Harry took a deep breath and filled them in on what had happened in the park, ratted Danica out about sneaking books that were really a bit too old for her, and then what happened with the Dementors and the attack.

He looked around at the shocked faces. He felt almost guilty for landing this on them, not that it was his fault but there was still a part of him that felt like it was something they shouldn't have to be dealing with.

“Harry… I… are you sure?” Sirius asked, “I mean, of course you are but are you sure it wasn't a boggart?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, yeah I’m sure. And they were there after me, I mean they didn't even look at...”

Lily leaned forwards, “Harry? What is it?”

Harry hadn't thought about the people around him when he'd pulled his wand out and cast the spell to get rid of the attacking Dementors.

“There were muggles on the street, not many, just a couple and I don't know how much they saw, I wasn't really looking. Muggles can't see Dementors can they?” Harry asked, he could feel his heart sinking even further.

Nikka shook her head, “No, Dementors are invisible to non-magic folk.”

Severus opened his mouth to say something when there was a timid knock at the door. Sirius stood up and opened it, Ginny was standing there, holding a letter.

“Sorry to disturb you,” she said, looking worriedly at Severus, “But this arrived and Mum said I should take it straight to you.”

Sirius took the smooth parchment letter and thanked her, closing the door, “It's for you Harry.”

Harry reached out a hand, annoyed that it was shaking. He slit it open and took out the letter. It was on thick, smooth paper, not like the thin stuff that he and his friends used to write quickly to each other, it also looked very formal before he'd even opened it.

Harry took a deep breath and unfolded the paper,

“ ‘Dear Mr Potter,

We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at forty-two minutes passed five this evening in a muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of two muggles. The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsio…’ ”

Harry felt all the breath leave him, this couldn't possibly be right, it wasn't his fault. Nikka reached over and took the letter from him.

“ ‘resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy you wand. As you have already received an official warning for a previous offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 am on the twelfth of August. Hoping you are well, yours sincerely, Mafalda Hopkirk, Improper Use of Magic Office, Ministry of Magic.’ Well fuck.” Nikka said, flopping down into a chair.

“Lock the door.” Lily said, not moving.

“Lily, they won't be able to find us anyway.” Sirius pointed out, “Yesterday, maybe but not today, not after we've boosted the charm.”

Lily nodded, she stood up and started to pace, slowly up and down the room, “Right, call them all in here. Kreacher!”

There was a click as the kitchen door was unlocked and Kreacher poked his nose round, “Yes Missy Lily?”

Lily forced a smile, “We've had some rather bad news, don't let anyone in the house for a while, until we say, and could you please take Danica upstairs?”

Kreacher nodded and led Danica out the kitchen. Severus returned after a few moments with Molly Weasley and Fleur Delacour, she'd gotten a job at Gringotts and was staying with them until she could find somewhere she liked.

Truth be told Lily was more than happy to have her around, having another fully trained and battle ready witch around was always reassuring but she was also someone around who didn't have bright red hair. Danica loved her, she would cuddle on her lap, head buried in Fleur's long, platinum blonde hair as Fleur read to her.

Molly and Ginny were not so fond of her, but they didn't say anything, at least not to her face.

“Where is everyone else?” Sirius asked.

“Well Arthur is at work, you know that.” Molly said, taking a seat around the table.

Sirius frowned, “Yeah, but the kids are all here aren't they?”

Molly glared at him, “They are far too young to be included in meetings Sirius, I’ve told you that already.”

Nikka forced a smile and put a hand on Sirius's shoulder to stop him from snapping back at her, “This isn't a normal meeting.” she explained.

“I would not like my Gabrielle to be involved with t'is sort of thing.” Fleur said, smiling at Molly.

Molly forced a small smile at her, “That's your sister, not your child. You wouldn't understand.”

Lily rolled her eyes, “Well, I would like it if you could tell your children not to go out for a while, as you know, Harry was attacked today by a Dementor. As a result he had to use a Patronus Charm to protect himself and Danica. The ministry have seen fit to expel him, there is someone on the way to destroy his wand.”

“They can not get in 'ough, 'an zay?” Fleur said, “We made up the protection spell, zay can not get through the Fidelius Charm?”

“Well, I don't know how it is back home,” Molly said, “but here, our Ministry is very powerful.”

“No, they can't get in.” Severus reassured her, “Not unless the secret keeper tells them where the house is, and they wont.”

Molly let out a disapproving sniff, “I still think you made a mistake picking him.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Nikka asked sharply.

Sirius rolled his eyes, “Molly, we trust Dimitri. He's Nikka's brother. He's not going to betray us.”

Molly smiled, rather forcedly, “I know, I know. And you're lovely dear, it's just, well, you haven't known them for very long. Arthur said he would do it for you.” she pointed out.

Lily took a deep breath, “Yes, you're right, we haven't known them long and yet, we'd known Peter for years. We trust Nikka, and we trust her family.”

“Besides, the more the secret keeper stays at the place they are protecting the quicker the Fidelius Charm will fail.” Severus pointed out, “Dimitri lives nearby so he won’t ever need to stay here.”

Molly said nothing but picked at the edge of her sleeve for a second, “Yes, you're right, you're right of course. What's that?”

She stood up and walked over to the window, letting in a small Little owl. It gave her a note and she breathed a sigh of relief, reading over it.

“Good news?” Lily asked.

Molly smiled, “Yes. Harry, Dumbledore is at the Ministry now, he's going to sort everything out! They're not even sending anyone to take your wand any more, isn't that brilliant?!”

Harry forced a smile, “Yeah, that's great. Really good of him.” he didn't feel any better. The pit in his stomach was still there, he wasn't so confident that everything could be sorted out so quickly and easily.

“Oh, and Arthur has asked that _I_ make his favourite chicken dish tonight.” Molly smiled.

Harry needed a rest, he couldn't deal with this right now, “I'm going to my room.” he didn't wait for anyone to say anything, he just got up, the chair making a loud scratching noise against the floor, and left the room.

His head was hurting, it never seemed to stop hurting any more, not really. He was also tired, it had been a long day and now he had to face the idea that he was never going back to Hogwarts. He knew why the Ministry was so against him, the whole world seemed to be against him at the moment.

He reached under his bed and pulled out the latest copy of the Daily Prophet. Molly had tried to hide if from him over breakfast but Sirius thought he had a right to know what was being said about him.

It wasn't nice. It hadn't been nice for weeks now; ever since the final task of the Triwizard Tournament there hadn't been a single favourable thing written about Harry. It was all the same, that he was insane, attention starved, one or two articles saying he had tried to kill Danica to make himself the only child again, three or four saying it was probably him who'd killed Cedric.

He had been horrified to start with, that people could write those things, but he had bigger things to worry about currently, including the fact he was being called into the ministry of magic to stand trial.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Harry woke the next morning to hushed arguments downstairs, that weren't really all that hushed. At a guess, Molly Weasley had been telling her children off and managed to knock the shutters over Sirius's mother open.

He lay back on his pillow and tried to sort through what had happened the day before. He'd gone down for dinner, Kreacher was looking most unhappy and huddled in a corner rather than sitting at the table.

The sauces that Molly had weren't bad, but they had a strange after taste if you'd grown up used to Kreacher's cooking. Most of the very full household kept quiet about it, Danica on the other hand spat out her dinner and refused to eat it, saying it tasted 'yucky'.

Sirius had stuffed his napkin in his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud as Molly Weasley looked very annoyed around the table. Kreacher had only been to happy to jump up and make Danica an omelet.

Harry had crouched on the stairs, with Fred and George to try and listen into the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix that went on that evening. Fred and George had invented a set of long reaching ears that wormed their way under doors so you could listen in unseen. Harry had already bought two pairs for himself.

They hadn't been able to hear much, just Lily filling everyone in on what had happened before someone moved their chair and squashed the other end of the ears.

Harry yawned, sitting up in bed and stretched. The house may be full, and getting fuller by the day, but at least he still had his room to himself. He dug around in his wardrobe to find some clean clothes, he didn't like going downstairs in him pyjamas currently, as Molly kept telling him he was under fed.

Half way down the stairs Sirius was re-bolting the shutters over his mother's picture.

“Good morning Harry.” He smiled, finally getting the yelling to stop.

“Let me guess? Fred, George and Mrs Weasley?” Harry grinned.

Sirius smirked, “Ginny and Ron actually, they were having a spat and Molly shouted at them for shouting.”

“Go figure.” Harry said, shaking his head, “Who's on breakfast duty?”

Sirius followed Harry down the stairs,

“Kreacher made pancakes, Molly supplied several jugs of sauces.” Sirius told him, walking into the dinning room.

“Chocolate spread it is then.” Harry said, flopping down in his seat at the table.

“Sorry Harry.” Danica said, looking sheepish, her mouth ringed with chocolate “It's empty. Daddy is going to bring more home with him this evening.”

Harry smiled, “It's fine.”

He poured a small amount of strawberry syrup onto his pancake and dug in. It really didn't taste that bad, Harry knew that part of his dislike for Molly Weasley's cooking was, in fact, Molly Weasley. He'd never been the best of friends with Ron, or any of the others in the first place and now, living with them twenty-four-seven was definitely starting to grate.

Molly was very much a mother, she had had no trouble coming into to Grimmauld Place and making her family at home, but Harry already had a mother and felt put out by Molly Weasley's constant and unnecessary affections.

Harry had just finished his food when there was a pop in the hallway. He looked, confused at the clock, no one was due home for hours. He wiped his mouth and went to see who it was.

“Nikka?” Sirius said.

Nikka was standing in the hallway, holding a large cardboard box and looking very sorry for herself.

“Yep. That's me, last time I looked.” she sighed.

“What are you doing home?” Harry asked, taking a small cactus that was trying to escape her box off her.

She forced a smile and walked into the dinning room, putting the box down on the table, “Well I sort of, maybe, kinda got fired?”

Harry could of dropped the cactus, “What? Why? How?”

“Harry, that's not helping.” Lily said gently.

Harry nodded and sat down, Nikka was a brilliant Auror. Tonks and her had graduated top of their course, Harry couldn't think of a single reason why she would be fired.

Nikka sighed and hoped up on the table, swinging, “Well Scrimgeour was handing out normal assignments, me and Tonks were sending each other notes, complaining that our desks were so far apart, not that they were really but I was hoping to share with each other rather than being stuck with stupid Vanessa Bulstrode. Anyway Scimgeour was about halfway through the list when Fudge arrived, he said it was just a quick visit, checking up on everyone, but he took a seat.”

“Yes,” Molly nodded, she'd come into the room to see what the fuss was about, “Arthur had a visit from him the other day, he's keeping a close eye on everyone at the moment.”

Nikka nodded, “Yep. Scrimgeour continued down the list, had me and Bulstrode investigating the disappearance of Lewis Scott when Fudge said that it wasn't important enough to be looking into. I suggested that with You-Know-Who back, all disappearances need looking into.”

“Well… yeah.” Sirius said, “I mean, surely even without Voldemort coming back it should be looked into?”

Nikka shrugged, “You would have thought. Fudge didn't think so, he got angry, told me that I had no right to speak to him, let alone tell him he was wrong in front of everyone. I said that with all due respect, it was my job as an Auror to look at all this and to say when I think there is something wrong.”

“And?” Harry asked.

Nikka sighed, “And he said that it wasn't my job any more. He left and the papers firing me came through about half an hour later.”

“Just like that?” Lily gasped, “What… what about Tonks?”

“She's fine, still in there. Scrimgeour was trying to work out a way to keep me, he didn't want to lose one of his best new Aurors but Fudge came back to make sure I was clearing out my desk. I gave Tonks the chance to pick a big fight with me, Fudge was looking at her too, we could tell.” Nikka said, “So I cleaned out my desk and made sure I hit that disgusting toad of a women Umbridge with the corner of my box on my way out.”

“But you worked so hard.” Harry said, “You-”

“I currently hold the record for the shortest position as an employed Auror.” Nikka grinned, “So I guess that's something?”

Harry felt like his world was crumbling around him. This was his fault, very much his fault. Nikka had been standing up for him, when the whole world thought that he was insane and shouldn't be trusted he could deal with it, it was the people around him getting hurt as well that was starting to get to him.

“Look, guys,” Nikka smiled, “It's no biggy. We've still got Arthur and Tonks in there to feed us any information we should know and it'll give me more time to work around here. Sirius is just going to have to put up with a couple more cactuses in our room.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, they already had a window still covered in them and their brightly painted pots. He moved over and put his arm around her shoulders, Nikka was putting a brave face on things but he knew that she was gutted. She's worked so hard to become an Auror.

“Harry, why don't you and Danica help put Nikka's cacti away.” Lily suggested.

Harry took the hint and nodded, taking the three small pots out of the box. Nikka grabbed the box under one arm and led him out the room. Danica was in the sitting room, colouring in something with Fred and George.

“Hey, want to come and help me and Nikka put some plants away?” Harry asked.

Danica nodded, beaming from ear to ear, “Yeah! Can I finish colouring later?”

Fred and George nodded.

“Yep.” Fred grinned, “We'll wait for you.”

Danica took one of the pots off Harry and walked carefully up the stairs.

“I like cactuses.” Danica said quietly, running her finger over one of the leaves, “This one isn't spiky.”

Nikka smiled, “Nope. Aloe barbadensis miller, not technically a cactus but very useful for minor cuts and burns. Your Daddy uses it in a lot of potions.”

Danica grinned, “This one is having babies!!”

Nikka looked where Danica was pointing, “Yep. When they grow a little bit bigger then I can pot it up for you if you'd like your own.”

Danica looked like she was about to jump up and give Nikka a huge hug before remembering that she was carrying the cactus and was likely to poke someone's eye out.

They reached the second floor and went to the first room on the left. Most of the rooms on this floor still hadn't been cleaned out but Nikka and Sirius had made a big effort to get this one, one of the bigger en-suit rooms, cleared out for them both.

It was decorated beautifully, with pale blue walls and dark blue details. Nikka went over and pulled the curtains fully open. There was still a little bit of room on the window still. Nikka cleared some space for the three new arrivals and placed them down. The plan terracotta pots looked a little out of place mixed in with the brightly painted ones.

“Looks like we're going to have to have another painting session.” Nikka smiled.

Danica gave her a big hug, “Why are you home so early?”

Nikka's smile drooped a little, “Well, they don't want me to work at the Ministry any more, so I’ll be spending more time at home. And with you.”

Danica leant her head against Nikka, “We want you around. Don't listen to those… poo poo heads.”

Harry choked out a laugh, trying to look cross, “Danica! Wait till I tell Mum what you said.”

Nikka on the other hand was laughing her head off, “You're right, they are poo poo heads.” she said, leading her from the room.

“Nikka! Don't encourage her!” Harry grinned.

They walked back down the stairs slowly, hearing the sounds of shouting coming from below and slowing down even more. Nikka sat down on the steps and pulled Danica onto her lap.

Danica leaned her head against Nikka's chest and dug her fingers into Nikka's long, purple and red hair, “I don't like the shouting.”

“I know sweetie.” Nikka said softly, “Me neither.”

Harry flopped down next to them, part of him was wishing that he was still small enough to curl up on someone's lap.

“I don't understand what the big problem is!” Molly Weasley's voice echoed up the stair way, “I could make those… those… tacos!”

There was the unmistakeable noise of annoyed muttering before everything went quiet.

“So what were you colouring in with Fred and George?” Harry asked. He still hadn't forgiven them completely for the ton-tongue-toffee incident.

Danica smiled, “It's a secret.”

“You know that you're not meant to keep secrets from Mummy or Daddy.” Harry frowned.

Danica shook her head, “Not from Mummy or Daddy silly. Or from you I guess, just from Mrs Weasley.”

Harry wasn't sure he liked the sound of this, “Go on then, if you can tell us.”

Danica reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a rather crumpled piece of paper. She passed it to Harry looking very proud of herself.

He looked over the drawing, there were a couple on there, a precise outline of an unfolded box and a picture of a lion in the top left hand corner. Big letter across the top read 'Miniature Zoo- Lion'.

“For their shop, I’ve been helping.” Danica beamed.

“You're designing the boxes for them?” Nikka asked.

Danica nodded, “Yep, I like colouring and they're going to give me ten… ten purrcent.”

“Well that works.” Nikka grinned, “I would of loved a mini zoo when I was little.”

There was a knock on the door, Harry looked at his watch, “That'll be Hermione.” he grinned, walking quickly down the stairs.

He was at the door before Kreacher, he guessed that Kreacher had been hiding in the kitchen again. Hermione was standing on the other side of the door with Sirius.

“I was worried I’d gotten lost to start with, I couldn't see the house.” Hermione said, stepping in from the doorway.

Harry took her coat and hung it up, “Yeah, added protection spells, because of… well, yeah.”

Hermione smiled, “Well, they work. Hi Danica!”

Danica ran over and gave her a big hug, “Hermione!”

Lily walked through from the dinning room and smiled, “Hello Hermione, sorry we've got a bit of a house full at the moment, but, more the merrier and all that.”

“That's OK.” Hermione smiled, “I'm just glad that you invited me.”

“You're always welcome.” Lily smiled.

Harry helped Hermione take her bag upstairs.

“Sorry it's a bit smaller than the room you had last time, you can move into the room across the hall after Neville and Draco go home if you'd like? You're staying until we go back to school right?”

Hermione nodded, “Yeah, Mum and Dad are going to be busy, it's meant we've had a brilliant few weeks though, they could take some time off work so we've been going out nearly every day. It's been really nice.”

“Sounds great.” Harry smiled, “I've… well we went to the Malfoys'. Other than that Mum and dad have mostly had me under house arrest.”

“They're just worried, we all are.” Hermione said, starting to pull her clothes out of her case to put away, “Dumbledore told me about the Dementors.”

Harry looked at her in confusion, “That only happened yesterday.”

Hermione shrugged, “Well it think it's a fairly big deal. I've looked it up though, there is no way they can expel you, I’ve got loads of research in here for you to use.”

Harry smiled, “Thanks, I know Mum has been looking as well, might be worth you pooling your research. I can't imagine not going back to school.”

Hermione wasn't sure what to say, there wasn't really anything to say that could make it better after all, “The room is great, by the way. Still bigger than my one at home.”

Harry grinned, “Ah, I forget how the other half live.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and smacked him with a pillow.

There was another knock at the door signalling the arrival of Neville.

It wasn't long before Harry, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Pansy and Daphne were laughing and joking in one of the upstairs rooms. They had volunteered to work on clearing out some more of the rooms to get away from Ron, who had been following them around, Harry suspected he was hoping for an invite. Tiding was a small price to pay for some privacy.

Harry felt a little better, surrounded by his friends and shut away from the outside world. So far they had planned, in detail, to either brake into the Ministry of Magic and destroy Harry's record of wrong doing or run away together until they were all seventeen and the Ministry couldn't tell them off for using magic outside of school. Either way, they had a plan. A slightly fantastical plan, but a plan none the less.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Harry wasn't feeling much better come the twelfth of August though, in fact he was sitting at the dinning room table, staring at his food, feeling very much like he was about to throw up.

“Harry, please try and eat something.” Lily asked, checking everything was in her bag “I can make you something else if you'd like?”

Harry shook his head, “No, thanks. I’ll eat when this is all over and done with.”

Lily sighed but nodded and took his untouched plate of toast back into the kitchen. Hermione was up as well. She'd made a point of sitting down with him at half past five that morning with a large pile of papers detailing the case she thought he should make.

She was bleary eyed and wrapped in her dressing gown, Sirius was also sitting at the table in a similar state. Nikka however was up and dressed, along with Arthur Weasley; they were used to the early mornings that the Ministry often demanded.

“Right, now you look very presentable,” Arthur said with a smile, “I'll take you and Lily in and help show you around, it can be a bit of a maze and we don't want you to be late!”

Harry forced a nod and a smile, “Great, thanks.”

Lily was dressed smartly in a set of black dress robes, her long hair swept up into an elegant up do. Harry was also scrubbed clean, dressed in new dress robes with enough Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment to make his hair sit smartly against his head for once. Harry hadn't realised just how messy it normally looked until he saw himself in the mirror that morning.

Mrs Weasley had arrived down stairs and was starting to smooth his collar and make sure his label wasn't showing. Harry was too tired to start a fight by pointing out he didn't have a label on the collar of his robes.

“The law is on your side.” Nikka said, “All of us, even those who are under age, are allowed to use magic in life threatening situations.”

Sirius nodded, “Just stick to the truth, and try not to rise to the bait; they're going to want to make you mad.”

Harry was already mad; he was always mad that they were putting him through this, trying to kick him out of school and for what? Because he'd defended himself. It wasn't fair, they knew it wasn't fair and yet there he was, at some ungodly hour in the morning, worried sick over what they were forcing him through.

He wasn't going to give up though, not because he didn't want to, a big part of him did want to just give up. It's not like he couldn't have a good life away from magic, he was rich and reasonably clever, he could go to normal school and then live his life, but this was too important to let them win.

“Time to be getting going I think.” Arthur smiled, “We're a bit early but better early than late. Ready to go Lily?”

Lily nodded, “I'll just go and fetch Danica, Severus was getting her dressed.”

“What?! Why is Danica coming?” Harry demanded.

“Remember that whole 'calm' idea?” Sirius asked.

Lily sighed, “I don't like the idea of bringing her any more than you do, Harry, but she's the only other person who saw the Dementors.”

Harry felt his blood boil, as if this wasn't bad enough. Nikka coughed awkwardly and put her hands on the table.

“Harry, you should leave your wand here.” she said.

Harry frowned, “Why?” he didn't feel very comfortable being without his wand.

“Well,” Nikka said carefully, “Just in case things don't go well today, surely it would be better to not have your wand on you when they… want to snap it in half.”

Harry couldn't disagree with that logic and, slowly, handed his wand over to Nikka.

“Just don't tell Moody that I gave my wand up.” He smiled.

It sounded stupid, but he felt almost naked without his wand.

Lily came back down stairs with a very sleepy looking Danica resting on her hip. It was a good job that Danica was small for her age, although Lily was clearly struggling to hold her up.

Arthur grabbed Lily's bag and opened the door for them. It was so early, the sun was barely up and everywhere was covered in a cold morning mist. There was a bus stop at the end of the road, not too far to walk which Harry was grateful for, although the fresh air was helping to wake him up.

Lily put Danica down, much to Danica's annoyance and reached her arm out to signal the bus to stop. Arthur took Danica's hand, he was clearly very excited to be using Muggle transportation, despite the circumstances. The bus was crowded, Harry and Arthur had to stand while Lily sat with Danica squished on her knee, earning ugly glares from the woman sitting next to them.

“How many stops do we have?” Arthur asked.

Lily shrugged, “Not sure, it's crowed so they might stop a lot. It would have been a lot easier to just, _pop_ there.”

Arthur shook his head, “No. This way makes a better impression. Shows we're playing by their rules.”

“I don't want to play by their rules.” Harry muttered.

It wasn't long before they got off in a dirty looking area. The street was mostly empty, a stray cat wondering around some over-flowing bins. Lily and Arthur guided them towards an old phone box and opened the door.

It was a tight squash to get them all in. Lily handed Arthur a handful of coins to put into the machine and pressed the dialling pad.

“Six, two, four, four, two.” he read out from the bit of paper as he pressed the buttons.

Harry rolled his eyes; MAGIC, very original. A clear formal voice filled the phone box, as if there was an invisible woman hovering above them.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.”

“Lily Snape, Danica Snape, Harry Potter and Arthur Weasley. Here for the Harry Potter disciplinary hearing.” Lily said clearly.

“Thank you.” said the crisp female voice, “Visitors, please take the badge and attach them to the front of your robes.”

There was a small tinkle and three square silver badges dropped into the coin tray. Lily picked them up and handed them out. Harry looked down at him,

_Harry Potter: Disciplinary Hearing_.

Lily's and Danica's read the same only they had their own names before Harry's.

“Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium.” the voice sounded.

“Why doesn't Mr Weazzy get one?” Danica asked, as the floor of the phone box slowly started to move down like a lift.

“Because I work here, so they already know who I am.” Arthur explained kindly.

Harry felt himself start to panic a little as the light showed, a small crack at the bottom of the floor. He squared his shoulders and looked straight ahead. There was no point being afraid, it wasn't going to get him out of this.

The telephone box shuddered to a stop and the door sprung open, “The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day.”

Mr Weasley stepped out of the box, followed by Lily, holding tightly to Danica and Harry's hands. Harry had never been to the Ministry before, he was shocked at how big it was.

They were standing at the end of a very long hall, the dark wooden floor was polished so brightly you could see your face in it. The ceiling was bright blue with dozens of golden symbols drifting across it.

One wall was dedicated to large fireplaces, each glowing green, on the right side of which there were short queues of people waiting to leave, on the left was a steady stream of people arriving.

About halfway down the hall was a large fountain, gleaming gold in the light. It had caught Danica's eye straight away and she was pulling on Lily's arm to get to it. Arthur was leading them towards it anyway, although not as quickly as Danica would of liked.

Harry stopped to look at the fountain. It was made up of a group of glittering gold figures, larger than life size, in the middle of a large pool. The tallest was a noble, and slightly smug looking, wizard, pointing his wand straight into the air sending a jet of water into the pool. Next was a beautiful looking witch, also pointing her wand and sending a jet of water into the pool.

Harry didn't like her, she looked too above it all. She actually looked a lot like Bellatrix, Harry realised with a jolt of horror. He told himself it was more like Andromeda to try and not see this as a very bad sign.

There was also a centaur, spouting water from the tip of his arrow, a goblin, with water coming from the top of his hat, and a house elf with water pouring from the tips of his ears. They were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard.

“Mummy can I have a coin?” Danica asked, pointing to the smattering of coins on the bottom of the pool.

A slightly smudged sigh beside the pool read:

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF MAGICAL BRETHREN WILL BE GIVEN TO ST MUNGO'S HOSPITAL FOR MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES.

Lily smiled down at Danica, “Maybe on the way back, OK?”

Danica nodded and followed Lily towards a smart looking desk. Harry looked at the pool and promised himself that if he got to go back to school, he was going to empty his wallet in there and let Danica put every single coin in herself.

At the desk was a badly shaven wizard sitting and reading a copy of the Daily Prophet, whilst wearing blue robes that matched the sky.

“Excuse me?” Lily said, after a few minutes of the wizard not noticing her, “We're here for a disciplinary hearing?”

“Step over here.” said the wizard in a very bored voice.

Lily went first, the wizard held up a long golden wire, like a very long car aerial and passed it up and over Lily.

“Wand.” He grunted.

Lily bit her tongue at his rudeness and handed over her wand. The wizard dropped it onto a single dished set of scales. It buzzed slightly and a narrow strip of parchment came out a little slit in the base of the machine.

“Ten and a quarter inches, unicorn hair, been in use twenty four years. That right?” the wizard asked.

Lily nodded, “Yes, that is correct.”

“I keep this.” the wizard said, impaling the strip of parchment on a spike with several others before he handed Lily back her wand, “You get this back.”

Lily took the wand and put it back in it's holder at her waist band, “Thank you.” She said coolly.

“Next.” The wizard said.

Danica nervously stepped forward and followed the golden wire as it passed over her.

The wizard waved his hand dismissively, “Next.”

Harry stepped forward and let the wizard again pass over the wire. The wizard looked at him slightly suspiciously.

“You didn't bring your wand?” he asked.

Harry shook his head innocently, “No, I forgot it at home.”

The wizard looked over Harry very disbelievingly, “Fine.”

“Right, off we go then.” Arthur said, cheerfully.

He guided them away from the desk and towards an old fashioned lift with a metal grate over the front. There was a long queue of people waiting to get in. Mr Weasley guided them next to a wizard with a large beard that was carrying a large wooden box.

“All right, Arthur?” said the wizard, nodding at Mr Weasley.

Mr Weasley gave a small nod, “What've you got there Bob?” Mr Weasley asked, looking at the box.

Bob shrugged, “We're not sure, we thought it was just a normal chicken until it started breathing fire.”

“Cool!” said Danica, standing on tip toe to try and get a look in the box.

Bob looked down and frowned, “Well I think someone is going to be in trouble, if we're right this is a serious breach of the Ban on Experimental Breeding.”

Lily pulled Danica in a little closer and gave a polite smile to Bob, “I hope it's not too much of a mess for you to clear up.”

There was a general forward movement of the witches and wizards towards the lifts. Harry, Lily, Danica and Arthur managed to squeeze in as the golden gated lift arrive. Harry flattened his hair with his hand to make sure his scar was covered.

The same cool female voice that was in the phone box filled the lift, “Level Seven, Department of Magical Game and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office.”

The lift doors opened and a wizard carrying several broomsticks left, entering a corridor with several pictures of messy looking Quidditch players. The doors closed again after a moment and the lift continued downwards.

“Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and Apparition Test Centre.”

Several paper aeroplanes swooped into the lift, Danica looked up and pointed.

“They're just little letters to each other.” Arthur smiled, “We can't use owls, they make to much of a mess you see.”

“They're so pretty!” Danica laughed, reached up to them.

The lift continued, stopping at every level. Several witches and wizards entered and left the lift and different floors along with a large group of different coloured memos. Harry wondered if people had an assigned colour of if they just picked their favourite.

“Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services.”

“This is us.” Arthur smiled, gesturing out of the lift.

“Can we go visit Aunty Tonks?” Danica asked, “She works with the Or...Oras?”

“Auror, and no sweetie, not to...” Lily smiled.

However Lily was cut off by a cry from Danica who saw Tonks's bright red hair leaving a door with a rather crooked sign on it.

“Lily!” she called, walking quickly over, Tonks knelt down to give Danica a quick hug, “Sorry, I can't really be seen. I’ll be round for dinner tonight though?”

“It's all right, I understand.” Lily smiled, “I'm actually just glad that you still have your job, you're more than welcome for dinner.”

Tonks smiled, “I actually just needed to give you this. It was delivered to Arthur's office but there was no one in so I took it for you.”

Lily nodded her thanks as Tonks went back into the Auror department. She slit the letter open and scanned over the short note written inside.

She thrust it to Arthur and picked Danica up. Arthur read over the words, the colour draining from his face slightly.

“Merlin's beard!” he gasped.

“What's going on?” Harry asked, looking nervously between Arthur and Lily.

“They've changed the time of your trial.” Arthur said, pulling him back towards the lifts.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Lily quickly pushed the button in the lift, letting Danica down, Harry jumped as the doors to the lifts slammed closed.

“When they talk to you, be polite but stand your ground.” Lily said, “Just stick to the facts.”

Harry nodded, his heart was racing, he was meant to have three hours to clear his mind and get ready for this, now he had less than ten minutes.

“Arthur I don't want him going in there.” Lily whispered, “This is insane.”

Arthur nodded, “I know. I don't think there is anything we can do to change it though. I am sorry Lily.”

Harry didn't like the sound of that, where were they going exactly? Surely they weren't going to put him in the courtrooms he'd seen in Dumbledore's memories for something like this. No, his trial would be in an office or something.

Harry tried to convince himself of that, failing horribly. The lift stopped at several floors along the way, the knot in Harry's stomach only growing.

“Department of Mysteries.” The female voice announced.

Lily picked up Danica again, she was too big now to really carry easily but it was quicker than her walking.

It was a bare looking corridor that they sped along, no windows or pictures, just darkly painted walls and a dark wooden floor that made their footsteps echo.

There was only one door that Harry could see, right at the end of the corridor, a plain black one that almost blended in with the walls.

Arthur grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him to the left where there was a flight of stairs.

“The lift doesn't even come down this far!” Lily hissed, “They haven't used these rooms in years!”

At the bottom of the stair was another long corridor, that looked very much like the corridor down to the dungeons at Hogwarts.

“Court room ten.” Arthur said, as they sped passed the doors.

“Here it is.” Lily pointed.

It was a dirty, dark door with a huge iron lock. Mr Weasley leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths.

“Go on.” He gestured.

Harry pulled the door open and stepped into the courtroom. He heard a small thump behind him and saw his mother, pressed up against an invisible barrier over the door.

“Harry!” she said, pressing with her free hand against the force blocking her.

“Lily you know you can't go in.” Arthur said, trying to pull her away, Lily just shrugged him off.

“We will call for you if we need you.” an Auror said, slamming the door shut in Lily's face.

“She's my Mother.” Harry said, “I want her in here with me.”

“Please take your seat, Mr Potter.” echoed Fudge's voice behind him.

Harry took a deep breath. It hadn't occurred to him that he would be doing this alone. He turned round and gasped, this was the room that he'd seen in Dumbledore's memories, the exact same room.

Thankfully it was Dementor free but the chair, wrapped in chains, sat worryingly in the middle of the room. Harry forced his feet to move forward, one step and then another, until he could sit down in the chair.

He took a deep breath, waiting for the chains to leap to life and bind him but they didn't, thankfully they barely moved. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and shuffled back so he was sitting fully in the chair.

“You're a minute late.” Fudge said.

“The original hearing time was at eleven.” Harry said, trying not to let his panic come out in his voice.

“An owl was sent to your house.” Fudge said, “It is not the Wizengamot's fault you never received it.”

“Well if you sent it this morning then we would of already left the house.” Harry said steadily.

Fudge sniffed unimpressed, “Well you left the house very early.”

Harry allowed himself a small smile, “And yet I was still slightly late, so if I had waited at home I would have been even later.”

Fudge glared down at him and there was a murmur around the other witches and wizards in the room that Harry was forcing himself not to look at.

“I imagine you have simply wasted time since you arrived.” Fudge said after a few minutes, waving his hand dismissively.

Harry didn't say anything but stared at Fudge, refusing to be the one to break eye contact. It wasn't long before Fudge looked away.

Harry took the chance to look around the room, the stands were empty, there was at least no one staring down at him to witness the trial but there were at least fifty witches and wizards, all wearing plum coloured robes with a large silver 'W' on their chests.

Cornelius Fudge was sat right in the middle of the front row, he looked very different without his lime green bowler hat on.

“Very well,” Fudge said, looking up from his notes, “The accused being present, let us begin. Are you ready?”

“Oh yes Sir, of course!” an eager voice sounded, Harry forced himself not to roll his eyes at the sound of Percy Weasley's voice. He was sitting at the end of the front bench, parchment and quill in hand.

“Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August,” Fudge said, Percy scribbling notes, “into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Mr Harry James Potter, resident at number twelve Grimmauld Place, Islington, London. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic, Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Under-secretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley...”

“Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.”

Harry turned round to see Dumbledore walking calmly across the room, his silver hair gleaming in the low light from the torches. He drew level to Harry and then stopped, looking up at Fudge as another murmur ran around the room.

Fudge gave a nervous cough, “Ah, well you received our owl then, stating the time and place of the hearing had been changed.”

Dumbledore smiled politely, “Alas I did not, but by a happy mistake I arrived at the Ministry three hours early.”

“Ah yes, well…” Fudge said, “I suppose we will need another chair, Weasley would you…”

Dumbledore raised his hand, “No need.” he waved his wand, drawing a chair in the air with his wand and letting it touch down to the ground before sitting and making himself comfortable, in the chintz armchair.

Fudge was looking less than happy and several people in the Wizengamot were still whispering to one another.

“Yes,” Fudge said, coughing loudly to make the room quiet, a move which failed miserably, “Well, then. So. The charges. Yes.”

He shuffled his notes around for a moment before pulling out a single sheet of paper.

“The charges against the accused are as follows, that he did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle in habited area, in the presence of two muggles, on the twenty eighth of July at forty-two minutes passed five, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.” Fudge read out in a self important voice.

Percy was still scribbling away, coping down every word. Harry looked over but it was clear that Percy was pretending that he'd never met Harry before.

“You are Harry James Potter, of number twelve Grimmauld Place, Islington, London?” Fudge asked, glaring at Harry over his piece of parchment.

“Yes, I am.” Harry said, sitting up a little straighter.

“You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?” Fudge asked.

“In error, yes.” Harry said.

There was a louder mutter around the room.

“What do you mean in error?” a witch sitting next to Fudge asked, she had a slightly familiar look about her. She was wearing a monocle and had a very square jaw.

“It wasn't Harry who preformed the magic it was a house elf, who has since been dealt with.” Dumbledore said, calmly.

Fudge coughed, “Yes but you did know it was illegal to use magic around muggles because of this event? The warning you got?”

“No.” Harry said, “I knew well before hand not to use magic unless in life threatening situations.” he said slightly sarcastically.

Dumbledore gave him a quick warning look before looking back to Fudge.

Fudge was getting more and more flustered, “So you knew it was illegal to use magic outside of school AND in the presence of a muggle?”

“Yes.” Harry said, making sure his voice was as calm as possible, “Unless-”

“And did you or did you not conjure a Patronus on the afternoon of the twenty eighth of July?” Fudge demanded.

“Yes.” Harry said, “I did beca-”

“Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?” Fudge asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Yes but-” Harry started.

Yet again Fudge cut across him, “Knowing that you were in an area full of muggles?”

“I wouldn't have said full, most of them had left because of the-” Harry said, he could feel his temper rising and took several deep breaths to try and steady himself.

Fudge wasn't interested in hearing what Harry had to say, “Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a muggle at the time?”

“No.” Harry snapped, “I wasn't looking around at all.”

Fudge looked rather unhappy with Harry's answer, “So you admit you didn't check?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “I was a little busy being att-”

“You produced a fully fledged Patronus?” The witch with the monocle asked, cutting across him.

“Yes,” Harry sighed, “because-”

“A corporeal Patronus?” The witch asked.

“What?” Harry asked, he wasn't sure where this line of questioning was going.

The witch sat forward slightly and adjusted her monocle, “I mean to ask, was your Patronus little more than vapour or smoke or did it have a fully formed, defined shape?”

Harry couldn't believe that that was what she was focusing on right now, “Yes it was fully formed. It's a stag, it's always been a stag.”

“Always?” she asked, “You mean to say that you have produced a Patronus before this event?”

Harry nodded, “Yes. I learnt in my third year at Hogwarts. I’ve been making corporeal Patronus for over a year now.”

“And you are only fifteen years old?” she asked.

Harry nodded, “Yes, I turned fifteen last month.”

“Who taught you this? You said you'd learnt it as school?” the witch said, adjusting her monocle again.

“Professor Lupin taught me, Remus John Lupin. The Ministry had sent Dementors to guard the school and they took an… an unusual interest in me.” Harry explained, “So Professor Lupin taught me to defend myself.”

“Thank you Madam Bones.” Fudge coughed, “I don't see how this is relevant.”

The witch looked rather scathingly over Fudge, before turning back to Harry, “That's very impressive Mr Potter, to be so competent at such a difficult spell at your age.”

“This is not a question of how impressive his magic was!” Fudge spat, “In fact, the more impressive the worse it is really! I mean, given that the boy did it in plain view of a muggle!”

There was a murmur of agreement around the room and Percy gave a very self important nod. Harry felt his blood boil, he wasn't sure why he was so upset but he knew that he couldn't hold it in any more.

“I did it because we were being attacked!” He yelled, “I did it because of the Dementors!”

Madam Bones adjusted her monocle and sat forward once more, “Dementors? What do you mean boy?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Do you really think I just started shooting off spells in the middle of the city? Of course not! There were two Dementors there, and they attacked me!”

Fudge smirked, “Ah yes, I thought you'd say something like this.” he looked around to the other members of the Wizengamot as though he was sharing a joke with them.

“Dementors? In Islington?” Madam Bones asked, the surprise clear in her voice, “I don't understand...”

“Don't you Amelia?” Fudge chuckled, “Let me explain. Harry, and possibly his family, have been thinking this through carefully, you see, and they have decided that Dementors would make a very good little cover story. Muggles can't see Dementors can they boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient… so it's just your word and no witnesses…”

Harry gripped the arms of the chair so tightly his knuckles turned white, “Not really, being attacked was bad enough! But no, you get to sit there and call me a liar! Just because what attacked me can't be see by muggles! And-” he took several deep breaths, he didn't really want to drag Danica into this.

“Enough!” Fudge sighed, patronisingly, “I think that this out burst alone shows the boy is unstable.”

Dumbledore coughed slightly to draw attention onto himself, “There is actually a witness, Harry's little sister, Danica Rose James Snape, was also present for the beginning of the attack.”

Fudge's self satisfied smirk melted from his face, he drew himself up to his full height and shuffled in his seat, “Really Dumbledore, we haven't got time to listen to more taradiddles, I’m afraid Dumbledore, I want this dealt with quickly…”

Harry could have yelled again but took several deep breaths to stay calm.

“I may be wrong,” Dumbledore said pleasantly, “but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her case. Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?”

Madam Bones nodded, “True, very true.”

Fudge ground his teeth in irritation, “Very well. Where is the child?”

“She's just outside.” Harry said, “But she's only six, she shouldn't have to come in here without Mum.”

“Children are always allowed a parent or guardian with them if they are required to attend a hearing.” Madam Bones said with a frown.

“Really?” Harry snapped, “Because it's been established that I’m under age and the stupid door wouldn't let Mum in earlier.”

Fudge coughed guiltily, Harry glared angrily at him as Fudge gestured for Percy to go and open the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Lily was waiting outside, clutching at Danica's shoulder, holding her tightly against her legs.

“We need a Miss Danica Snape.” Percy said.

“You know who I am.” Danica said, loudly and with a look of disgust on her face, Percy looking rather embarrassed.

Lily picked Danica up and stepped though the door, breathing a sigh of relief and hurrying over to Harry. Danica wriggled free of Lily's arms and onto Harry's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hey.” Harry said, hugging her back as best as he could with Lily also hugging him tightly.

“Are you all right?” Lily asked, looking over him.

Harry nodded, “As well as I can be. Fudge seems to have it in for me.” he whispered in her ear.

“Excuse me.” Fudge said loudly, more than a slight edge of annoyance in his voice, “Can we be getting on?”

Dumbledore stood up and lifted Danica onto his chair, conjuring new ones for himself and Lily.

“Can you state your full name please.” Fudge said, looking down at Danica.

Harry was not at all happy with how Fudge was glaring at his little sister.

“Danica Rose James Snape.” Danica said, glaring back at Fudge, not a bit afraid of the stupid looking old man.

“And you are Harry Potter's half sister?” Fudge asked.

“No.” Danica said, stubbornly, “I'm his sister. I’m not half a person!”

There was a small chuckle of laughter around the room.

Danica pulled at the end of one of her plaits, looking very cute and innocent, “But we do have different Daddies if that's what you mean.”

Fudge coughed, “And you were there when Harry produced the Patronus Charm?”

Danica nodded, “I think so.”

“What do you mean you 'think' so?” Fudge demanded.

Madam Bones looked rather unhappily at him, “What the Minister means is what did you see?”

Danica took a deep breath, “We were in the park talking and… it went weird. It got all cold and I felt funny. I didn't want ice cream any more!”

There was another small ripple of laughter.

“Harry said we needed to go to Mummy and ran with me out of the park. We were near the shop when a big black thing came along, like swoop!” Danica said, throwing her hands down to show the swooping, “I felt like crying, everything was bad and was always going to be bad. Harry told me to run and I did. I could feel one of the swoopy things chasing me but it went away.”

“Thank you Danica, you may go.” Madam Bones said, with a small smile.

Lily showed Danica to the door, leaving her with Arthur Weasley before coming back over to Harry.

“A child?” Fudge scoffed, slightly annoyed that someone else had dismissed the witness, “Not the most convincing of witnesses.”

“I would say that she described what a Dementor attack is like very well.” Madam Bones pointed out, “Especially considering her age.”

“Yes but Dementors just wondering into London and finding the boy? I don't think even Bagman would bet on those odds...” Fudge scoffed.

Dumbledore stood and smiled slightly, “I don't think that any of us here believe that the Dementors were there by mistake.”

The room was suddenly very quiet, the witch on the other side of Dumbledore from Madam Bones moved slightly but didn't say anything.

“And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?” Fudge asked, coldly.

“It means, that I think they were ordered there.” Dumbledore said simply.

Fudge looked down at them furiously, “I think we might have a record of it if someone had ordered a pair of Dementors to go wondering around London!” he barked.

“Not if the Dementors are taking orders from someone other than the Ministry of Magic these days.” Dumbledore suggested, “I have already given you my views on this matter, Cornelius.”

Fudge slammed his papers down, “Yes you have, and I have never heard such a load of… bilge, Dumbledore. The Dementors remain in place at Azkaban, doing everything we ask them to.”

“Then it was someone at the Ministry who sent Dementors after my fourteen year old son and six year old daughter!” Lily snapped, taking a small step forward.

Harry did wonder for a moment, how many of the Wizengamot members his mother would be able to take out before they took her down, Fudge would certainly be dead, and he didn't hold much hope for at least ten or fifteen of the others.

Attacking the Ministry, however, wasn't going to help anything and Lily knew that.

The witch to the right of Fudge moved forward, she was thick and flabby and looked a lot like a toad with a bow in it's hair. He was very glad that Danica had left the room, she would most definitely be laughing at the woman's odd appearance which also wouldn't help the situation.

“The Chair recognises Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Under-secretary to the Minister.” Said Fudge, looking almost fondly at her.

“I'm sure I must have misunderstood you Professor Dumbledore, Mrs Snape,” the witch said, she spoke with an annoying, put on girlish voice and simpered on every other word, “So silly of me. But is sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry had ordered an attack on this boy and his sister!”

Harry wanted to slap her. She was one of those people where everything about her was annoying and the stupid tinkly laugh she gave out made the hair on the back of Harry's neck prickle painfully.

“No,” Dumbledore said slowly, “Apart from anything else I believe that Danica was not the intended target, she was simply in the way. However there was and attack on Harry. IfTwo Dementors attacked Harry and his sister, just under two weeks ago, then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry might have ordered the attacks, if you insist that the Dementors are only taking orders from the Ministry.” Said Dumbledore calmly, “Of course, these particular Dementors may have been outside Ministry control…”

Fudge slammed his hand down on the wooden banister in front of him, turning bright red, “There are no Dementors outside Ministry control!”

Dumbledore didn't say anything but simply gave Fudge a small bow, “Then undoubtedly the Ministry will be making a full inquiry into why two Dementors were so very far from Azkaban and why they attacked without authorisation.”

“It is not for you to tell me what the Ministry of Magic does or does not do!” Fudge snapped.

Dumbledore smiled, “Of course it isn't, I was merely expressing my confidence that this matter will not go un-investigated.” He looked at Madam Bones who frowned slightly.

“I would also like to know the results of this investigation.” Lily said, quickly.

“We are not here to discuss the behaviour of these Dementors, although I believe they are little more than figments of this boys imagination, we are here to discuss the boys crimes!” Fudge said loudly.

Dumbledore nodded, “Of course we are, quite right, but the presence of Dementors are highly relevant. Clause Seven of the Decree states that magic may be used before muggles in exceptional circumstances, and those exceptional circumstances include situation which threaten the life of the wizard or witch him or herself, or any witches, wizards or muggles present at the time of the-”

“We are familiar with Clause Seven, thank you very much!” Fudge snarled.

“And you have heard from eye witnesses that there were, in fact, Dementors there and attacking although we don't yet know why-” Dumbledore said.

“I still do not believe that there were Dementors.” Fudge sniffed.

“Are you publicly calling my children liars?” Lily demanded, “Because if you were to make such a claim, I would sorely hope you have proof.”

Fudge glared down at her, he was a shade of red that Uncle Vernon would have been proud with, “Lily please I-”

“If you wish to question either Danica or Harry further I’m sure they would be willing.” Dumbledore said calmly.

“We don't have time for that!” Fudge spat, “I want this dealt with.”

“We all want this dealt with, Cornelius.” Dumbledore said, “But I will remind you, as I did on the night of the twenty eighth that you do not have the power to expel students from Hogwarts.”

“And that reminds me!” Fudge said, sitting forwards, “His behaviour at Hogwarts!”

“The Ministry has no business at Hogwarts.” Dumbledore said.

“No business!” Fudge gasped, “Not our business? You really think so?”

Dumbledore calmly ignored him, “The Ministry also doesn't have the power to confiscate wands until the proper hearing has taken place, which I also reminded you of on the night of the twenty eighth.”

“Laws can be changed!” Fudge bellowed.

“Of course they can.” Dumbledore said, “And you certainly seem to be making many changes. Why in the few weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of under age magic!”

There was an uncomfortable murmur around the room, Fudge turned an even deeper shade of red while the toad-like witch glared down at Dumbledore without moving.

“I think we are ready to reach our verdict.” Madam Bones said, “Unless there is anyone who would like to examine any more evidence?”

She looked to Fudge but he remained quiet for a moment, “Very well, very well.” he choked.

Harry looked down at his feet for a second, his heart thumping in his chest before looking back up at the Wizengamot, fixing his eyes just above Fudge's head.

“Those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?” Madam Bones said clearly.

More than half the hands went up, and Harry took a deep breath.

“And those in favour of conviction?” she finished.

Fudge raised his hand, as did a few others, including the toad witch. Fudge glanced around him, looking with a mixture of disgust and betrayal.

He coughed slightly, “Very well, very well, cleared of all charges.”

“Excellent.” said Dumbledore, springing to his feet and vanishing the chairs he'd made, “Well I must be getting on. Lily, I will see you soon. Good day to you all.”

Harry watched as Dumbledore swept from the room without even looking at him.

“Professor…” Harry said, “I was hoping to have a word.”

Dumbledore didn't stop though, he didn't even look back just swept from the room without another word.

He had been ignoring Harry all summer; there had been a few times that he had been round to Grimmauld Place and it might as well have been that Harry wasn't in the room.

“Mum… is he mad at me?” Harry asked, as Lily guided him from the room, “Because of Cedric or something?”

Lily shook her head, “No, no of course not. There's just a lot going on right now is all. He doesn't blame you, no one does.”

Harry wanted to be comforted by her words but he knew there was something up, he wasn't stupid after all.

“Come on Harry, lets go.” Lily said, pulling him up gently from under his arms.

Harry stood up from the chained chair and followed his mother towards the door they'd come in from. Danica was sitting on the floor just outside with Arthur, playing what looked like a very overly complex thumb wrestling game. Harry suspected that Danica was making up the rules as she went along to make sure she won.

“How did it go?” Arthur asked, jumping to his feet.

“Well, I get to go back to school, and keep my wand.” Harry said, forcing a smile. He should have been happy, he knew that, but Dumbledore's cold treatment of him was spinning around his mind and blocking out the majority of the relief he should have been feeling.

“He did very well.” Lily said, pulling Danica to her feet and holding on tightly to her hand, “I think it's time I got these two home. You never know, Kreacher might of made a treacle tart.” she smiled.

Harry grinned and nodded, even a home filled with Weasleys seemed like a brilliant idea right now.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Harry held Danica's hand, their arms swinging between them as they walked back up the stairs.

“I can't believe that you were tried in front of the whole court!” Mr Weasley said, shaking his head, “It was only a little incident.”

“They didn't care.” Harry muttered, “They were just throwing everything they could at me.”

“Did I help?” Danica asked.

Harry grinned down to her and nodded, “Yeah, you helped loads.”

Danica smiled to herself, “I didn't like it in that room.”

Harry had to agree with her there, it wasn't somewhere he ever wanted to see the inside of again.

They reached the top of the stairs and Harry's eye was once again drawn to the solitary door at the far end of the corridor. He shook his head and followed his mother down the corridor, away from the door and back to the lift.

Further down the corridor Harry could hear footsteps behind them. It would be the Wizengamot leaving the dank dungeon that held the court room. He had no desire to talk to any of them, he just wanted to go home.

“Ah Fudge!”

Harry raised his eyes from his feet and saw Rodolphus Lestrange walking, confidently towards him. Lily pulled Harry closer to her side.

“What are you doing here?” Harry snapped.

Rodolphus looked down at him, like he hadn't noticed that Harry was standing in the middle of the corridor, “Oh, Potter, isn't it? You go to school with my children. What on earth are you doing down here?”

“That is none of your business.” Lily said primly, “Come along Harry.”

Harry shrugged his mother off, he wasn't sure why he was so angry but he was, “You know who I am! And not because I go to school with your horrid little children!”

“Really, you should control your temper better, Potter.” Rodolphus said, giving him a patronising smile, “Now, I really should be getting on.”

Harry reached out and grabbed Rodolphus's arm as he walked passed. Harry wasn't sure who was more shocked, Rodolphus or him.

“What… on _earth_ do you think you are doing?” Rodolphus hissed.

Harry wasn't sure; he wasn't sure what he was doing, why he was so angry. He let go of Rodolphus and took a step back, “I…”

Rodolphus looked him up and down with disgust, “The Potters were once such a noble house, until they were… _muddied_ by muggle born blood. It's clear you have none of your father's nobility.” he hissed.

He pushed passed Harry and walked a few steps before turning back towards Harry, smiling coldly, “I will give you this though, Potter, you are very good at slipping out of _difficult_ situations. Very like a _snake,_ really.”

Harry didn't know what to say, his heart was pounding, did Rodolphus really just say that? Out loud for everyone to hear?

“Harry?” Lily said, pulling gently on his arm, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Harry nodded and followed his mother and Mr Weasley further down the hall.

“Why was that man talking about snakes?” Danica asked, looking up at Lily.

“He… he just knows someone who like snakes.” Lily smiled.

Danica smiled back, “I like snakes.”

Harry snorted a laugh and grinned at his little sister. They reached the large atrium which was once again filled with people.

“Can you watch Danica for a moment while I check us out?”

Harry led Danica over to the fountain and dug out his wallet. There wasn't actually that much in there but he handed her the seven coins one by one to throw into the pool.

Danica sat on the edge of the fountain and splashed her fingers in the water.

“I don't like this fountain.” She said quietly, after a few moments.

Harry sat down next to her, “Why? You normally like playing in this sort of thing.”

Danica shrugged, “He doesn't look like Kreacher, or Petal.” she said, pointing to the statue of the house elf, “He looks sad.”

Harry looked over to the house elf, looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard, before looking back to his sister.

“When did you get so grown up?” Harry smirked.

Danica grinned, “I'm always grown… growning up. Have you seen how big I’ve gotten?”

Harry laughed, “I've seen all the new clothes you've gotten because you've grown out of the old ones.”

Danica grinned even bigger, “I'm a big girl now.”

“Well stop!” Harry said, “You've got to always be my baby sister!”

He grinned and pulled Danica onto his lap, hugging her tightly and threatening to drop her into the pool. Danica laughed loudly, earning them a lot of strange looks from the witches and wizards walking passed. Several people glared at them but Harry just glared back. Danica even pulled tongues at a few.

Lily walked back over and smiled, “We're already to go, Arthur has gone off to work, he'll see us later at home.”

Harry was grateful to take his mother’s hand and let her lead him away from the Ministry.

They'd barely gotten through the door of Grimmauld place when Hermione threw her arms around Harry.

“How did it go?” she asked, stepping back and clutching at her fingers nervously.

“Let them get through the door, Hermione.” Mrs Weasley chided, ushering them into the dinning room.

Harry let her guide him to the dinning room table and push him into a chair. The table was laden with baked goods; tea cakes, bread, cakes and pastries. There was also three tea pots, waiting to be filled.

“I'll get that.” Lily offered, reaching for a bright red tea pot.

“No need.” Mrs Weasley smiled, “You've had a busy morning, now sit down and tell be all about it.”

She flicked her wand and water poured into the tea pots.

“Hot chocolate, tea or coffee?” Mrs Weasley asked.

“I'm fine.” Harry smiled.

Mrs Weasley smiled, “Come on now, you've had such a difficult morning.”

“Coffee.” Harry smiled, it was easier not to argue.

“So, about the trial?” Hermione said, as a tea cup floated in front of her.

“Now, now.” Mrs Weasley said, with a slightly tight smile, “That can wait until we've got everything sorted, Harry barely had a bite to eat this morning, he must be starving!”

Harry was hungry, but he wanted to tell Hermione what had happened. Lily had never been a smother mother, so Harry wasn't used to someone acting like he was totally incapable of breathing by himself. It was starting to bug him more than a little and he'd only been home five minutes.

Mrs Weasley flicked her wand and large bowls of soup sailed smoothly in from the kitchen as a set of knives began to cut and butter bread.

“There you go dear, now be careful; it's hot.” Mrs Weasley smiled at Harry, before sitting down at the table.

Harry ate a few mouthfuls of soup, it was very good, before coughing, “So the trial.” he began.

Hermione looked up eagerly from her own food, “Yes! Please, I’m dying to know how it went.”

Mrs Weasley didn't look to happy about them discussing this before they'd finished, “Wouldn't you rather wait until everyone was here?”

Harry looked around, Sirius and Nikka were sitting round the table with them, Fleur had made her way down and was sitting quietly in the corner sewing something and Severus was at work, and wouldn't be back until late.

“I can tell Dad later.” Harry told her.

“And we can fill in the rest of Harry's school mates later.” Nikka said politely.

Harry hadn't thought about Ron or the others, he knew them, of course, but they weren't exactly best of friends and Harry wasn't impressed with the idea of having to fill them in on every detail of his life.

Mrs Weasley pursed her lips but nodded for Harry to continue.

“So what happened when you got there?” Nikka asked.

“We got there, I was glad I left my wand here as they inspected them and us.” Harry said, “They had some weird detector things as well, searching for magical items I think. Anyway, they'd changed the time, three hours earlier. I think they were hoping we wouldn't turn up.”

“You were in zere for 'ours 'en?” Fleur gasped.

Harry nodded, “Yep. They also had the trial in the old courtrooms, the ones they used for the death eater trials back in the day.”

Molly gasped loudly, “Oh you poor dear! You must have been so scared!”

Lily reached over and rubbed Harry's shoulders, “He's very brave.”

“Go on.” Hermione said. She was sitting on the edge of her seat, taking notes about what Harry was saying.

Harry took a deep breath, “Dumbledore helped me. I think they would of just thrown the book at me and not listened to a thing I’d said without him.”

“That was good of him.” Hermione said.

Harry nodded and forced a smile, there was still the coldness from Dumbledore playing on the back of his mind, “Yeah, so anyway, he spoke for me, said that I was acting in self defence. Fudge was convinced, or at least pretending to be convinced that I was making it all up.” Harry sighed, “He said that I'd said it was Dementors because muggles can't see them. That's when they called Danica in. She was so brave, told them all what happened. They were all very impressed that I could create a full Patronus, pretty sure that helped my case as well. They did the voting thing and cleared me, Fudge was pissed, so were a couple of others… and then Dumbledore pretended like I didn't exist, couldn't get away from me fast enough.”

Harry couldn't help but notice the adults in the room grow quiet, all looking somewhere that wasn't at him.

“What?” Harry asked, looking at Lily.

“I'm sure that Dumbledore was just busy.” Molly said cheerfully, “He's normally a very busy man after all, and there has been a lot going on.”

Harry was thoroughly unconvinced, “So busy he couldn't even say hi to me?”

Sirius opened his mouth to say something.

“Cake!” Molly said, glaring down at him, “Who would like some cake?”

Harry could feel his anger bubbling inside him, “What are you hiding from me?”

“What would zey want to hide from you 'Arry?” Fleur asked, looking around in confusion.

“Do you know?” Harry snapped at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head, “Harry, I’m not sure there's anything to know. Dumbledore is very busy. I’m sure he was just stressed from the trial, and the way the Ministry has been treating you both.”

Harry knew that that was a perfectly reasonable argument for how Dumbledore had behaved but that didn't explain why Sirius, Nikka and Lily were avoiding his eyes.

“You're probably still a little hungry.” Mrs Weasley beamed, “Having a stressful situation can burn through your blood sugar like that,” she said, snapping her fingers, “I made a couple of types of cake, Victoria sponge, chocolate fudge. And for those who don't want cake, I made scones with cream and fresh jam...”

Harry stood up, his chair banging against the ground, “I'm not hungry.” he hissed.

“But Harry, you love my chocolate cake!” Molly said, taking a step towards Harry.

“NO!” Harry yelled, “I love Kreacher's and-”

“Harry!” his mother snapped across him, “That is enough.”

“I'm out of here.” Harry huffed, he was so angry.

Lily stood up and stared at him, “You may go to your room.”

Harry let out a loud huff and stomped from the room, slamming the door behind him, his breathing ragged.

“Fleur, Hermione, would you mind popping into the kitchen, Kreacher wanted to get a few more recipes from you.” Lily said gently.

Harry heard the door to the kitchen close.

“I wish we could just tell him.” Nikka sighed.

Harry pressed his ear against the door

“You all heard what Dumbledore said.” Molly said, as though it ended the conversation.

Sirius huffed loudly, “Without any reason. If he didn't bother to tell us why, why should we listen? Harry has a right to know.”

“It's not that simple.” Lily said, “Dumbledore, he… he has his reasons, even if he hasn't seen fit to tell us why.”

“Harry does seem more angry, or rather quick to anger lately.” Nikka said, “But I’m afraid he'll hurt himself if he doesn't know what's going on.”

They were clearly talking about something, something that they'd talked to Dumbledore about, which meant Dumbledore had been there and not bothered to even see Harry. They also weren't saying what it was, Harry suspected because they didn't want to be overheard, by Harry or Hermione.

“I brought that up with Dumbledore, he said there was more risk to Harry if he knew and I would just have to trust him.” Lily sighed.

Harry could hear Sirius laughing, “This isn't fair!”

Harry heard a loud bang, he suspected Molly had banged a dish on the table when she put it down, she did that a lot when she wanted quiet and explained why all her children could be so jumpy.

“Dumbledore is fighting a war!” Molly said, strictly, “He doesn't have time to be fair to everyone.”

“We're all fighting a war, Molly.” Nikka said.

“He's got Harry's best interests at heart.” Molly sniffed, “Now who wants cake?”

Lily sighed, Harry could hear her stand up, “We've all got Harry's best interests at heart, and we're his family.”

Harry moved away from the door, making his way up the stairs before he got caught eavesdropping… again.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

There was a knock on Harry's bedroom door, he shifted uncomfortably on his bed. Now he'd had time to calm down he knew he'd over reacted downstairs; he just didn't seem to have a lot of control over his emotions at the moment.

“Come in.” Harry said.

Lily poked her head round the door and smiled, “How are you feeling?”

Harry shrugged, that was a complicated question, “Ok. Sorry I yelled at Mrs Weasley.”

Lily sighed, “I know it's been hard for you, having other people in the house so much.”

Harry nodded, that sounded reasonable, so why did he feel like such a brat? Lily came and sat next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

“You know, I have something for you.” Lily smiled, “As a… well, a sort of well done for getting through the trial and to replace the one you lost.”

Harry looked at her in confusion as she left the room for a moment, grabbing something that was behind the door. She walked back in with a distinctly broom shaped parcel, wrapped in bright paper.

“No way!” Harry grinned, pulling the paper off, “A Firebolt! Really?!”

Lily smiled, “You like it then?”  
  


Harry nodded, “This is amazing! Thank you!”

Lily smoothed his hair and kissed the top of his head, “Well, it's from Sirius and Nikka and Remus as well. You've had a rough time and we know how attached you were to your Nimbus 2000.”

Harry gave her a big hug, “Thank you Mum.”

“You're very welcome, now Tonks has just arrived, you should come down and have dinner with us.” Lily said, “But if you'd rather eat in your room I will understand.”

Harry wished his mother would just yell at him, it would be easier than this annoyingly understanding thing she did that just made him feel worse about his actions.

“I'm coming.” he smirked.

Lily laughed and pulled him into another hug, “Come on.”

Harry walked down stairs to see Nikka and Tonks's heads bent low over the table. Nikka saw him and quickly shoved something into her bag under the table. Harry glared at her, they were keeping secrets from him again.

“I can't wait to get our Hogwarts letters.” Hermione said, cutting through his thoughts.

Harry nodded.

“Now we're sure you're coming back to school of course.” Hermione smiled.

Harry grinned, “Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to being shoved in one of your suitcases and smuggled into the castle.”

Hermione laughed. They moved into the dinning room and sat down at their seats. Danica was already there, sitting across from them, illustrating a very complex story she was making up and explaining to Remus as she was colouring.

“Clear the table.” Molly said, briskly, “We're about to start bringing out the food. You can keep colouring later.”

There were two loud pops, either side of Mrs Weasley, making her jump in surprise. Fred and George laughed and grinned, tucking their wands away.

“I wish you two would stop doing that!” she chinned, “Now sit down, all of you!”

Ron and Ginny also took their seats.

“Hi Harry,” Bill grinned coming through, “Good to see you again.” he reached across the table to shake Harry's hand.

Harry shook it, and smiled, “I didn't know you were going to be here.”

Bill nodded, “Yeah got some last minute leave and wanted to see Fleur. I’ve been helping her with her English.”

Molly Weasley had a distinct grumble at this information and muttered something under her breath; Ginny also rolled her eyes and started playing with the corner of her napkin.

“Well I’m sure that's very kind of you.” Lily said, politely, “Danica, why don't you shuffle your chair up a little so they can sit together and I'll move the place settings.”

“You really _really_ don't have to do that.” Ginny muttered under her breath.

“I don't mind.” Danica said helpfully, moving along chairs, “Fleur can sit in my seat.”

Harry gasped dramatically, “You never let me sit in your seat!” he placed the back on his hand on his forehead trying not to laugh.

“That's because you're-”

“Danica Rose James Snape do not finished that sentence.” Lily told her.

Danica grinned evilly and pulled her tongue at Harry who pulled one back, leaning forward across the table and using his fingers to pull his ears out. Lily rolled her eyes and left them to it.

“Will someone come and take this pot through for me?” Mrs Weasley called from the kitchen.

“We'll do it!” Fred and George said jumping up and pointed their wands towards the kitchen.

“No it's-” Sirius started.

It was too late though. Fred and George flicked their wands and the large pot of tomato sauce flew in from the kitchen and smashed into the table. Fleur yelped and snatched Danica onto her lap as the pot crashed into the seat where Danica had been sitting, covering it in hot sauce. The pot crashed to the floor, knocking a crystal vase off the sideboard to the floor where it smashed loudly.

Fred and George looked guiltily at the mess and horrified at Danica and what could of happened.

“Sorry Mrs Snape.” Fred said, white faced.

“And sorry Mr Black.” George added, as they sat down quietly.

Sirius waved his hand, “It's fine, it was my mother's. Lily said I couldn't just throw all of her stuff out so you could be counted as helping.”

Lily glared angrily at him, she flicked her wand and the vase repaired itself, taking it's place once more on the sideboard.

“Are you all right Danica?” Lily asked, worriedly.

Danica unburied her head from Fleur's hair and looked at where she had been sitting, “Woah, that was a close one! I’m OK Mummy.”

“Thank you for grabbing her.” Lily said, “I think it would be better, in future, if you two either did the spells one at a time or possibly just carried things in the boring way.”

Fred and George nodded and apologised again, as well as apologising to Danica.

“Well I just 'ad to react or she would 'ave been oeufs à la provencal!” Fleur said.

Mrs Weasley came through from the kitchen and saw the mess, “What on earth did you two do!?!?” she yelled, “How many times do I have to tell you that you are using too much magic? What a mess you've made! Kreacher spent hours making that! And you've thrown it over the place! You stupid boys!”

“Really Molly, it's all right.” Lily said gently.

“You're just being so irresponsible!” Molly stormed, “You never think about the consequences!” she smacked her hand down on the sideboard sending the vase, once again, crashing to the floor, “And now look what you've made me do! We are guests here for goodness sakes!”

Lily sighed at the smashed vase.

“Just leave it Lily.” Sirius sighed. He flicked his wand and the pieces flew into the dustbin.

“I could of fixed it for you.” Molly said, a little put out.

Nikka waved her hand dismissively, “Don't worry about it, that thing just got more and more ugly every time we fixed it, and it didn't start as the prettiest thing.”

Kreacher glared at the spilled sauce, he clicked his fingers and it flew back into it's pot which landed neatly in the middle of the table, steaming gently.

“Peoples should be more carefulls.” he grumbled, taking a bowl of food, “I wills eats in my room.”

Lily sighed and quickly served everyone else before smiling, “Dig in everyone.”

The pasta and tomato sauce with chicken was lovely, Harry had his with a generous sprinkling of cheese.

“They're cracking down again at the Ministry,” Tonks sighed, “Yet another search of our desks, a couple from other departments actually got dragged into interviews.”

“Why?” Ron asked, helping himself to more garlic bread, “I mean, I don't see what the big deal is.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “You mean apart from the fact that Voldemort is back?”

Harry managed to stop himself from smirking as the Weasleys all flinched.

“The Ministry don't believe he's back, which is in many ways the problem. They honestly think that Harry and Dumbledore are just making it up.” Arthur explained.

“Well then they're stupid.” Ginny said simply, “Harry wouldn't lie about something like that.”

“Plus there's proof, with Professor Snape and Mr Malfoy.” Hermione pointed out.

Molly shook her head, “They're scared, it's easier to pretend it's not happening, you're all too young to really remember what it was like last time. We lived in constant fear, it never stopped, worried if it would be you next, or your family or someone you knew.”

“I remember.” Bill said, holding Fleur's hand, “I was eleven when the war ended remember, and I agree, they're afraid, Mum and Dad were talking about not even letting me go to school after our uncles died.”

Molly looked down at the table, remembering her brothers, “No one wants to go back to that time, but burring their heads in the sand isn't going to help matters. Now eat up.”

There was a few moments of silence.

“Then what do they think is going on?” Harry asked, “I mean, they're plastering my face all over the papers, tried to get me kicked out of school, if not arrested but why? It makes no sense if they honestly just think I’m lying then it would be better for me to remain invisible, at least as invisible as I ever was. And how does Dumbledore fit into this?”

“Fudge was not first choice for Minister of magic. He has always worried about someone coming along and taking over.” Lily said delicately, “Dumbledore has been offered the position, several times.”

“So this is all because Fudge thinks that Dumbledore is trying to take over?” Ginny said, “That's insane.”

“It's easier for them to believe than the truth right now.” Tonks sighed.

“What about Voldemort?” Harry said, he ignored the look Molly gave him, “And Bellatrix and the others? What are they playing at? We saw Rodolphus at the Ministry today, that can't be a coincidence.”

Sirius sighed and leaned forward, thinking for a moment, “We think that Voldemort may be looking for something.”

“Right, off you go, all of you.” Mrs Weasley said, standing up quickly, trying to shoo the children from the room with their half eaten dinners.

“No, wait, I need to hear this.” Harry said, “I'm staying.”

Mrs Weasley looked to Lily for support but Lily shook her head.

“Harry, you have a right to hear this.” Lily said, “Hermione I can't really send you out either. The rest of you have to do what your mother says. Fred, George will you take Danica with you?”

“Wait! I want to stay too!” Danica cried, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Danica you are too little.” Lily said simply.

“They're all too little.” Molly snapped.

Lily took a deep breath, “Harry is in the middle of this, he has a right to know.”

“Well I’m still going to protect my children, come on all of you, out!” Molly said, tapping Ron and Ginny on the shoulders to get them to stand up, “You too Bill, come along.”

“Mum! Come off it, I’m twenty four not a child.” Bill said jokingly.

Molly glared at him, “You may be part of the Order, meaning you can come to meetings but you can't listen to everything!”

“Come on Molly dear.” Arthur said softly.

“No!” Molly said.

Bill rolled his eyes, “Fine. Fleur, would you like to show me your room?”

Molly looked horrified at him as he lead Fleur from the room, grinning. Molly sat back down next to her husband and refolded her napkin.

“You were saying?” Harry said, shaking his head to stop thinking about how weird the Weasleys were sometimes.

Sirius nodded, “We think Voldemort might be looking for something, a weapon, really.”

“Harry, before you were born, there was a prophecy.” Lily said, “It was the reason Voldemort attacked us, the night that James died.”

Harry nodded, “Ok… well what did it say?”

Sirius opened his mouth to speak.

“No one know.” Lily said quickly, “Voldemort managed to hear, or rather hear from… someone else, part of the prophecy but not all of it. We believe he's trying to get the rest, to have a glimpse of what is to come so he can fight against it.”

“But no one heard it?” Hermione asked, “So how will he find it?”

“There's a record of the prophecy.” Sirius told them, “We have to under protection, he wont be able to get it.”

Harry nodded, none of this seemed so terrible that everyone had to be shooed from the room, he had the feeling he was missing something.

“So that's it?” He asked, “Voldemort just wants this prophecy that we're protecting from him but have no idea what's in it? Then shouldn't we be trying to find out what the prophecy says? It might have clues on how to fight him, or it might just say that he was destined to have a huge power spike in 1994 and that's why he didn't think twice about attacking you and James that night.”

Lily smiled, “It might do. Dumbledore has just told us that it's just important that we keep it safe, and the information away from Voldemort and his followers.”

Harry wasn't happy with that answer. It was bad enough that Dumbledore was giving him the cold shoulder, ignoring him, even at the trial he might as well of not been there for all the attention that Dumbledore had paid him, and now he was trying to avoid and keep secrets from everyone else as well.

“So, really, we know nothing?” Harry snorted, “I mean, Dumbledore could actually just be trying to take over the Ministry.”

“See I told you.” Molly said, “He's too young for this!”

“Thank you, Molly.” Sirius growled.

Harry took several deep breaths, “Sorry. It's just, I feel like, like I have no idea what's really going on.”

“I know it's hard, Harry.” Lily said, “But we will keep you safe, I promise and we will get through this.”

Harry nodded, he knew they would try and keep them safe of course but he wasn't safe last term and they couldn't promise he'd be safe in the future.

“Time for bed I think.” Molly said, yawning dramatically.

Harry rolled his eyes, “I get the hint, come one Hermione.”

Hermione nodded and gave them a half smile, “We should go and have a look over the lists I was making, of things we need to pick up for school.”

Harry nodded, it was a good excuse to leave the room but he wasn't going to sit with Hermione and go over lists yet again. He was going to go and flop on his bed and try and think about what could possibly be so important in a prophecy that apparently no one knew.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Hermione sat on her bed going over the lists of things to get for school. Harry, Ginny and Ron were all crowded in her room, waiting for their school letters to arrive.

“I'm just not sure which would be more helpful, you know? A homework diary for me to carry around or a homework planner that I can pin above my bed?” Hermione sighed, flopped on her pillows.

“Get both and be done with it.” Ron grumbled. He was slumped in the corner in a huff because they wouldn't tell him what they had been discussing. It wasn't worth the wrath of Mrs Weasley.

“It's not that simple.” Hermione said, a bit of a snap in her voice, “What if I forget to update one of them and get behind? This is an important year for us, we need to be prepared.”

“I'm sure you could get a spell, that would link them so any changes made on one would happen on the other.” Harry suggested.

“Bet you anything Fred and George could whip something like that up for you in a second.” Ginny suggested, “If there isn't one already.”

“Where are Fred and George?” Harry asked.

“They're playing with Danica.” Hermione said, absent mindedly, “She seems to really like them.”

Harry smirked, “Danica like everyone, especially people she can charm into spoiling her.”

“They don't seem all that eager to get their letters.” Hermione sniffed.

Ron shrugged, “To be honest they don't care. They've got their future all sorted, although goodness knows where they got the money from, but things are selling really well already and they've not even got a shop. They're only going back to keep Mum happy.”

There was a knock on the door and Lily popped her head round, “Your letters are here.” she grinned.

The four of them jumped up and followed Lily down the stairs to where a neat pile of letters was sitting on the dinning room table.

Danica was sitting colouring looking very dejected, “This is how you spell Danica right?” she asked, showing Harry her drawing.

Harry nodded, “Yep, that's right.”

She sighed loudly, “Still not one for me.” she crossed her arms on the table and put her head on them dramatically.

“Danica, you're still only six.” Harry told her, “You've got to be eleven to go to Hogwarts.”

“It's not fair.” she grumbled, not looking up.

Harry smiled and found his letter before sitting next to her. Ron, Fred, George, Hermione and Ginny all also found their own letters and sat down, Harry noticed Hermione's envelope was slightly thicker than the others.

Inside Harry's letter were the normal two pieces of paper. One was the reminder that school started on the first of September, the other was the list of books they would need for the coming year. There were only two new ones, 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5' and 'Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard'.

Harry had a horrible feeling that the shortness of the list of things to get would make his Mother go shopping by herself rather than taking all of them, and Harry could really use the trip out of the house.

Hermione let out a squeal of delight.

“What is it?” Harry asked.

Hermione held up a shiny new Prefects badge; red and gold with the Gryffindor lion on it and a large shining P.

“I can't believe it!” she grinned, “I never thought it would be me!”

“Congratulations.” Harry said.

He hadn't been made Prefect. He was disappointed, he couldn't deny that. He'd done a lot for the school after all but he also knew that he had caused a lot of trouble over the years and with the way Dumbledore was currently ignoring him it made sense he'd been passed over. Harry just hoped that it would be Draco rather than one of the others that had been made Prefect.

Ron was looking confused at his letter, he even turned the envelope upside down to make sure he'd not somehow missed the Prefects badge being awarded to him. Harry rolled his eyes, Ron had done exactly nothing to deserve becoming a Prefect, he couldn't really be surprised surely?

“Well done Hermione.” Lily beamed, “Harry tells me it's well deserved.”

Hermione blushed at the praise and mumbled a thank you. Mrs Weasley was looking over Ginny's shoulder reading her letter.

“No Prefects award for you Ron?” She asked.

Ron shook his head and gave her an awkward smile, “I'm not exactly best in the year.” he mumbled.

Mrs Weasley was clearly very disappointed, “Yes, well. Can't have all the family being Prefects can we?”

“Hey!” Fred huffed.

“And what are we?” George asked, “We never became Prefects either!”

Mrs Weasley blushed slightly, “Yes, yes that's what I meant and we've still got Ginny to go!”

Lily smiled sweetly, “Yes well, Percy was a Prefect wasn't he? Not exactly always a good judge of character.”

Mrs Weasley grew very stiff.

“Besides, James wasn't a Prefect, neither was Sirius.” Lily said simply.

“Well, I’m glad they've finally found someone to be Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.” Mrs Weasley said, “From what Dumbledore was saying he was having real trouble finding anyone suitable to take the job.”

“I wonder who it is?” Ginny asked.

Harry clutched at his letter, why was Dumbledore finding it so difficult to find a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher when Severus had always wanted the job? Dumbledore wasn't ignoring him, that was for sure. Dumbledore had Severus out nearly every day on a secret job or assignment that had him out of the house until late at night. Danica was starting to ask why Daddy was never home for tea. So why wasn't he the new teacher?

“Looks like we'll need to organise a trip out.” Lily said, “I'm sure we could all use a day in Diagon Ally.”

“I'm happy to get my lots alone.” Molly said quickly.

There was a round of complaint from her children.

“Your Father will agree with me.” Molly huffed, “Why don't you help Sirius and Remus clear out the last couple of rooms upstairs.”

“I'm so glad we're finally getting all those rooms cleared out, you'd think we would of gotten around to it before now.” Lily laughed, “Just one of those things I guess.”

Molly smiled, “Yes, well I know I couldn’t live in a house that was so… dirty but I think it just depends on how house proud you are.”

Harry rolled his eye, “You should of seen it when I was younger, I was covered in mould all the time!” he said sarcastically.

Molly looked shocked.

“Ha ha Harry.” Lily said, pulling him into a hug which he pretended to get out of.

“Can I at least come on the shopping trip?” Danica pouted, “Or do you need to be eleven for that as well?”

“That depends entirely on your behaviour young lady.” Lily said firmly, “Enough with the pouting. You'll be off to Hogwarts soon enough.”

Danica sighed, “I just want to go now!”

Lily smoothed her hair soothingly, “I know. Right, Hermione, Harry would you go and fetch your lists for me please and we'll head out as soon as possible.”

Hermione nodded and jumped up, Harry followed her up the stairs.

“I mean it you know.” he said, “Well done for becoming Prefect.”

Hermione smiled, “Thank you. Your Mum didn't seem so happy.”

Harry shook her head, “She was. She just...” he looked down stairs to make sure they weren't being over heard, “she just doesn't think much of the way that Molly is really strict with her kids. I mean Ron tries hard enough but he was never going to be Prefect you know? Why be so disappointed in him?”

Hermione sighed, “Well Ronald would have had a much better chance if he worked harder at his lessons. Considering how little work he does and how little homework he hands in, it's a wonder he's gotten the grades he has.”

Harry grinned, his own work ethic wasn't brilliant so he didn't really feel that he had the right to comment on Ron's lack of studying.

He left Hermione to make sure her list was complete and went to grab his own. There's really wasn't much this year, his old robes needed lengthening a little but his mother was already half way through that. He need the usual new quills and parchment, more treats for Hedwig and the two new books but that was it. The potions ingredients he could get from Severus like he normally did and his cauldron was still in good nick.

He was just heading back down the stairs when Armilda soared through the hallway into the dinning room. He hurried up, jumping the last few steps.

“Slow down Harry.” Sirius said, “If you break your neck you'll never get your letter.” he laughed.

“Like you haven't done worse.” Harry smirked.

Sirius smiled, “I'm sayin' nothin'!”

“How's Draco?” Lily asked, she was finishing off her own shopping list.

Harry read quickly through the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_Just a quick note, my Hogwarts letter arrived today (I hope yours did as well and the Ministry aren't trying to pull some trick!) anyway I wanted to tell you that I have been made Prefect!_

_I was surprised, I honestly thought it would be you. Not sure who the others are yet but I’m hoping it's Daphne or Pansy. I’m going to flip if it's Bulstrode or Davis! We're going shopping today, Diagon Ally. Hopefully we'll see you there._

_All the best,_

_Draco._

“He's going to be shopping as well, we'll be able to meet up.” Harry said, “And he's been made Prefect.”

“So he's the good influence one for this year?” Sirius grinned, “Gods help us all.”

Harry snorted a laugh, “Yeah, well. He is nearly top of the year, got to give him some credit.”

“It was Remus, for me and James.” Sirius smiled, “Gods everyone thought that it would be James, he was in the Quidditch team and clever and popular. We were total trouble makers though, totally not up for being Prefects. Remus was the right choice.”

Harry sat down next to him, “I'm glad it's Draco, but I’m disappointed it's not me.”

“Looks like it’s at least one more of your friends though.” Lily said, pointing to another owl coming through the window, shortly followed by two more.

Harry quickly read through the letters.

“Daphne's not Prefect, I’m kinda surprised there, she's top girl in our year after Hermione.” Harry said, thinking out loud, “She says she doesn't mind though as she'd rather aim for head girl. Ooo it's Pansy! Pansy is Prefect as well! And Neville, for Gryffindor obviously. Pretty good choices I would say. Pansy is shopping in a week with Daphne. Damn, it would have been nice to see them. We should run into Neville though, that will be good.” Harry said, putting the letters down. He got a large, shallow dish of water for the owls and gave them all a few treats.

Lily handed him a piece of paper to write the replies to his friends. Just quick notes, congratulating Neville, Draco and Pansy and telling Neville and Draco that he would hopefully see them later today.

He attached them to the legs of the owls and let them out of the window.

“All ready?” Lily asked Hermione who'd just come down the stairs.

Hermione nodded, “Yep. I’ve got my bag and my list.”

Lily smiled, “Excellent. Molly is going to go in a few days, she said she would rather stay here with the children. Remus said he'll meet us there, so we wont have to worry about protection.”

Hermione nodded and walked over to hold tightly to Lily and Danica's hands. Harry held onto Sirius and felt the unpleasant feeling of being shoved through a tight tube as they left Grimmauld Place.

Diagon Ally was as busy as ever, Harry was a little surprised, he thought at least some people would be worried about his wild claims and chosen to stay home.

“Ice cream?” Danica asked with a grin.

“Books first I think.” Lily said, holding tightly to her daughter's hand, “And then, when we've gotten everything else, we can go for ice cream.”

Harry wandered with his family into Flourish and Blotts. He picked up a copy of Defensive Magical Theory and flicked through it.

“This seems a bit boring.” He said to Hermione, “It has nothing about actually using spells in it.”

Hermione shrugged, “Well, I’m sure we will be using spells. Maybe who ever the teacher will just fill those bits in. Or you've just missed those bits in your five second reading.”

Harry nodded, that made sense.

Danica loved looking in all the books. Lily let her pick one to buy, although she had to put the first four back as they contained spells and potions that Danica was far too young to read about.

Amanuensis Quills was next on the list. Harry chose several handsome goose feather quills as well as arranging for some more to be sent to him half way through the year.

“Look Danica!” Draco called, spotting them, “This one is as big as you.” he grinned holding up a long ostrich feather.

“Cool!” Danica said, running over, “I want it.”

“Danica you are far too young to have a quill, ink is far harder to get off walls than crayon.” Lily told her, “Well done Draco, Harry told me you'd been made Prefect. I’m sure your parents are very proud.”

Draco nodded, “Annoyingly so.” he smirked, “They will be in in a moment. Mother and Mrs Longbottom got talking.”

Lily smiled understandingly.

Harry went over to see his friend, “Hi.”

Draco smiled, “Hey, how are you?”

Harry shrugged, “Could do without all of the side ways looks from people. Glad I’m going to be going back to school though.”

Draco nodded, “Yeah me too, I was worried they were going to pull a fast one. They dragged Father in for an interview the other day, asked for permission to search the house, we denied it of course. Fudge looked like he was about to explode so I’m told.”

Harry laughed, he could imagine that. There was the small tinkling of the shop bell as someone entered, Neville saw them and waved.

“Mum and your Mum are still talking out there.” Neville grinned, “I fear we'll be stuck here forever.”

“Well at least until the twins and Danica insist on ice cream.” Harry smirked.

Draco and Neville collected the quills and fresh ink they needed and waited for Hermione to finish buying half of the shop.

“Why is it girls always take so long to shop?” Draco laughed.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I've never once run out of quills or ink while at school, can any of you say the same? No? I rest my case. And have I always had spares for you to borrow.”

“All right, all right.” Harry said, in a mock surrender.

“I've already taken Neville's robes down once, I think he'll need knew ones by Christmas though, he seems to be growing an inch a day! And Thomas is just as bad, plus he managed to break his wand over the holidays.” Alice sighed, holding tightly to the twins' hands.

“I know what you mean.” Narcissa said, “Draco doesn't seem to stop growing, he had almost four inches of ankle showing when we tried his robes on the other day.”

“Oh hello Harry dear.” Alice beamed, “Good to see you and well done for showing the Ministry up.”

Harry grinned, “Thanks Mrs Longbottom. And congratulations to Neville, for becoming a Prefect. I seem to know quite a few this year! Should be able to get away with a fair bit.”

“No.” Draco, Hermione and Neville all said at once.

“Shall we all get some I, C, E, C, R, E, A, M?” Lily suggested, spelling out ice cream so the younger ones wouldn't get upset if the answer was no.

“Sounds wonderful.” Alice smiled, “I just have to take Thomas to Ollivander's which I can do afterwards. Want some ice cream girls?”

“Yeah yeah!” Hannah cried.

They wandered over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and took a seat outside as the sun was still managing to hold on through the clouds.

Harry sat, slowly eating his pistachio ice cream looking up at the sky.

“I want you all to be careful this year.” Alice said, “It might be difficult, as you know the Daily Prophet has been running a lot of unfriendly articles lately and a lot of people believe them. Just stick up for each other, OK?”

They all nodded, Alice was right, they needed to be there for each other.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Harry wasn't sleeping well. He kept having bad dreams, dreams of everyone dying, his friends wearing crowns and walking through him as though he were nothing but smoke.

“Hey! Hey, guys wait up!” he called as they walked through him.

Harry went to chase them and found himself alone, heading down a long dark corridor with a locked door at the end.

“Wake up sweetie.” Lily's voice called, cutting across his dream and dragging him back into the real world.

Harry jerked awake, pushing her arm away, “S… sorry Mum.”

Lily smiled, stroking his hair back, “Are you sure you're all right? We called up ten minutes ago.”

Harry nodded and forced a smile, “Yeah, yeah I was just having a bad dream.” he rubbed his eyes and shoved his glasses on.

There was a loud shout from downstairs from Mrs Weasley, followed by Sirius's mother's picture waking up and sending her shutters flying open.

Lily sighed, “I better go and sort that out. See you down stairs in a few minutes?”

Harry nodded and waited until his mother had left the room before flopping back on his pillows. He was trying to hold onto the dream he'd had but it was quickly slipping away. Within a minute Harry couldn't remember anything more than the feeling of being alone.

Harry got up and dressed himself in comfortable jeans and his Slytherin t-shirt, before pulling a clean-ish hoodie and double checking everything was in his trunk before heading downstairs. Sirius was struggling to make sure his mother's picture was covered over again, Harry helped him hold the shutters shut so he could clip the latch in place.

“What woke her up?” Harry asked.

Sirius sighed, “Seems Fred and George didn't want to have to carry their trunks down. Lily said that we would help but Molly insisted they could all do it themselves so Fred and George used magic and knocked Ginny down two flights of stairs.”

Harry nodded understandingly, “I see.”

Breakfast was laid out on the dinning room table and Harry took his seat, helping himself to pancakes and bacon.

“You're not eating much.” Harry said, spotting Fred and George's one slice of toast each.

“They can wait till lunch, a bit of hunger might help them think twice before they try and kill their sister.” Mrs Weasley commented.

Harry knew enough to stay quiet, it wasn't worth getting yelled at himself, but he slipped a few pancakes into his napkin to give them later.

“We didn't mean to hurt her Mum.” George said quietly.

“And she's fine.” Fred muttered under his breath.

Mrs Weasley just glared at them until they quietly ate their toast. Lily came in and held Danica's chair for her before sitting down herself.

“What would you like sweetie?” Lily asked.

“Porridge please.” Danica asked politely, pointing to the pot.

Lily reached over and spooned some into a bowl.

“Where's Dad?” Harry asked.

Lily sighed, “He got called away, first thing this morning. He wanted to take you to the station but… we'll have other people there though. Nikka and Sirius of course and Remus, Moody will also be coming with us.”

Harry gave her a half smile and nodded. He ate quickly and went upstairs with Sirius to carry his trunk down.

Hermione was trying to pull a brush through her hair while dragging her trunk towards the stairs.

“We'll get that down for you Hermione.” Sirius smiled, taking her trunk from her.

“Thanks.” she said happily, “I can't believe I fell back to sleep!”

“It's fine.” Harry grinned, “Breakfast is on the table.”

Hermione smiled and mumbled her thanks heading down to grab something to eat. Harry waited on the bottom step, reading over one of his text books half heartedly waiting for everyone else to be ready.

Mrs Weasley had so far sent Ron to change his top three times, turns out he had packed all of his clean ones and Fred and George were refusing to let her look in their trunks, leading her to suspect there was something in there that shouldn't be.

“Right, all ready to go?” Growled Mad Eye Moody, looking over the very full entrance hall.

“I think so.” Lily smiled, finishing buttoning her coat.

“Yes we're all ready.” Mrs Weasley said, “Do you have the tickets Arthur?”

Mr Weasley nodded excitedly. Harry was used to apparating to Kings Cross but Mrs Weasley didn't have a side along apparation pass, neither did Mr Weasley and it was too many for Lily and Sirius to take alone.

It thankfully wasn't far to the underground though. Mr Weasley was fascinated by how the automatic ticket barriers worked and insisted on making all of his children go through the same one so he could watch, trying to figure out how they worked.

Harry sat between Hermione and his mother on the train. Ron had tried to aim for the seat Hermione was sitting in but his trunk had gotten caught on the edge of the door. Harry was grateful for it. He’d managed to tolerate Ron over the holidays but he was really, really looking forward to having a little space.

It was just passed half past ten when they arrived at platform nine and three quarters, already filled with students and families. Harry knew it was going to be a difficult year as soon as he stepped onto the platform.

Several sets parents glared at him, ushering their children away from him. One other, her children dressed in Ravenclaw robes, went as far as to tell Lily she should be ashamed of herself.

“Just ignore them.” Lucius said loudly, walking towards Lily, “The lower classes will believe anything they read in that rag.” he pointed with his cane towards a copy of the Daily Prophet that was sticking out of the woman's bag.

Lily smirked, “Good to see you.”

Narcissa gave her a warm hug, “We've found a compartment, near the front so our new Prefects can pop back easily.”

Harry made sure he was holding tightly to Danica's hand and followed him through the crowd. It was far easier this year than before, mostly because people kept moving out of the way to avoid him.

It was one of the larger carriages that the Malfoys had managed to claim for them this year, which was good as there were already more than half the seats filled.

“We're never all going to fit in there.” Ron huffed, “Come on Harry, we'll find somewhere else.”

“I would much rather Harry stayed near the front of the train and therefore the driver, considering everything that is going on.” Lily said quickly, “Why don't you move down with your brothers Ron, I think Fred and George have managed to find a compartment.”

Ron gave Harry a small smile and nodded, “Yeah, I’ll find you during the journey.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah. Couple of games of chess.”

He hauled his trunk into the compartment with Pansy's help and hopped back down so he could say goodbye.

Danica sat on the edge of the compartment door, swinging her legs, “I can see the tracks!”

Remus laughed and moved closer so she wouldn't fall.

“Hi!” Daphne called, dragging Astoria behind her, “I thought I wasn't going to be able to find you all!”

“I want to go sit with my friends.” Astoria moaned.

“I'll take her.” Daphne's mother offered.

“She hasn't stopped whining the whole trip.” Daphne said rolling her eyes, “It's a pain not being able to apparate.”

“Why can't you apparate?” Lily asked.

Daphne's father sighed, “We were denied our passes, paperwork error apparently. We should be getting them in a month or two.”

Harry took a deep breath; a paperwork error was the most pathetic excuse, the Ministry were just showing who had the power, again.

“We made it and that's the main thing.” Daphne's mother said with a smile, “Astoria is on the train with her friends, she was the last one there so I could shut the door.”

Daphne gave her mother a hug as the whistle blew, telling them all they only had five minutes before the train left.

“Now do you best, study every night. It's an important year.” Daphne's father told her before helping her onto the train.

Lily pulled Harry to the side, “Be safe OK? You're going to be fine, just study for your exams and do your best.”

Harry grinned, “Always.”

Lily shook her head, smiling, “You'll be fine. I love you.”

“Love you too Mum.” Harry smiled.

Nikka moved forward, “As your Mum said, do your best and stay safe.”

Sirius gave him a big hug, “Safe but fun, yeah?”

Lily smacked him playfully on the arm.

“Wait!”

Harry looked over and saw Severus walking quickly towards them.

“I managed to get away, wanted to come and say goodbye.” Severus smiled, pulling Harry into a hug.

“You'll see me at school Dad.” Harry grinned.

“It's not the same though.” Severus said, trying to flatten Harry's hair a little.

Remus walked over, Danica had managed to guilt him into giving her a shoulder ride, although Harry suspected it hadn't taken much.

“Take care Harry.” he said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Bye… bye…” Danica sniffed, “Will you be home for Christmas this year?”

Harry nodded, “Yep I think so. I’ve missed watching you open your presents.”

Danica smiled, tears dripping down her cheeks and soaking into her long black hair.

Harry hopped on the train and closed the door. He and his friends crowded round the window, waving goodbye to their families as the train pulled away.

Harry flopped down on the seat next to Neville and stretched out his legs. Thomas said goodbye to them, also choosing to head off and find his friends.

“When do you guys need to head off to the Prefects carriage?” Daphne asked.

“Straight away, according to our letters.” Hermione said, pinning her badge to her top, “I don't think we'll be too long though.”

Pansy, Draco and Neville also pinned on their badges and waved goodbye, shutting the compartment door behind them. Harry and Daphne looked to each other,

“Well...” Daphne smiled, “Then there were two.”

Harry grinned, he looked out the window for a moment, “Do you think it's odd, that Dumbledore made Draco Prefect rather than me? Not that he didn't deserve it it's just…”

“You're the favourite?” Daphne finished.

Harry nodded, “How much of a bad friend does that make me?”

Daphne shook her head, “No, not one at all. And I would love to say that Dumbledore has taken it purely on credit and school work, as it should be, but that seems a little out of character for him, doesn't it?”

Harry sighed and nodded, “That's what I was thinking.”

“I can't say I’m not disappointed as well.” Daphne shrugged, “I always get better marks than Pansy.”

Harry nodded, “I guess Dumbledore has his reasons, not that he'll ever bother to explain them to anyone.”

“Does that make us bad friends? That we're disappointed?” Daphne asked, worriedly.

Harry shook his head, “I don't think so. You can be happy for someone and disappointed for yourself at the same time.”

Daphne nodded, feeling a little reassured that she wasn't a bad person for her guilty thoughts.

The weather turned nastier the further north they travelled. The new Prefects returned to the compartment after an hour or so.

“So?” Harry asked, “How did it go?”

Neville shrugged, “Pretty straight forward, lots on how we needed to be good examples to the younger students, that we need to take a couple of walks up and down the train to make sure everyone is behaving.”

“And help the first years get to the dorms, although that is normally taken over by the older ones.” Hermione filled in.

“We also get to take house points if we need to.” Pansy grinned, “Gryffindor is going down this year.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Excuse me, we're sitting right here.”

“Exactly.” Neville grinned, “Tut tut Miss Parkinson, five points from Slytherin when we get to the castle I think.”

Pansy laughed and pulled her tongue at Neville, “Sorry Mr Longbottom but I think you'll find Prefects cannot take points from another Prefect or Headboy or Girl. You should have been paying attention more closely.”

Harry felt better, surrounded by his friends, less alone. He still couldn't remember his dream, although he thought it might have had something to do with a door, but he could remember the feeling of being totally alone.

“We'd better change.” Draco said, checking his watch.

Harry nodded and opened his trunk to dig out his robes, he smiled, seeing his mother had slipped a dozen chocolate frogs into his case for him with a note, saying how much she loved him.

“What's that?” Pansy asked, pointing inside Neville's case.

Neville pulled out a strange looking cactus that looked like it was moving slightly.

“This is a mimbulus mimbletonia.” Neville said proudly, “My great uncle got it for me, for my birthday, they're really rare. Professor Sprout doesn't even have one at Hogwarts, can't wait to show her. I’m hoping we can breed from it.”

“I've never even seen one.” Daphne said, looking carefully at the specimen, “They are said to be very defensive.”

Neville nodded, “Oh yeah. My room got covered in stink sap a couple of times but it seems to like me well enough now.”

Harry grinned at his friends, straightening his tie. Neville was brilliant at Herbology and his parents only encouraged his love for the subject.

“Hallie seemed quite interested in it, Hannah just thought it was gross.” Neville said, “Considering they always want to dress alike, they are so different.”

“I just can't believe how big they'd gotten.” Draco said, straightening his Prefects badge.

“Yeah, they just turned four.” Neville beamed proudly, “And Matthew will be starting Hogwarts next year.”

“If Danica gets her way so will she.” Hermione laughed.

Harry felt like he needed to cover the side of his robes, they seemed very empty without a badge, he could tell that Daphne was feeling the same way.

They were getting close, the sun was starting to set and the view outside was now nothing but steep hills rather than softly rolling fields.

There was a knock on the compartment door showing Luna's dreamily smiling face. She opened it and gave Harry a wave.

“I've been looking for you Harry.” Luna said softly.

Harry smiled, “Come on in. Everyone, I think you've met Luna Lovegood.”

There were a round of murmured hellos and waves.

“What can I do for you Luna?” Harry asked.

“Oh? Oh… I wanted to give you this.” she said, handing him a copy of the Quibbler.

Harry had never read a copy of the Quibbler, it was normally filled with strange articles that weren't really Harry's thing, however there was a large picture of him in the corner of the front page. Harry flipped to page four to read the article.

_IT IS A COVER UP!_

_As many of you know, last year at Hogwarts Harry Potter was suspiciously chosen as a Champion in the TriWizard tournament. Despite being too young to participate, organisers Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch (now dead) INSISTED he take part. Why would they do this unless they had ulterior motives?_

_At the end of this tournament, Harry Potter told us that the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who was back! And did these officials, the same ones who insisted he take part, listen to him? NO! Of course not! Because this was their plan all along!_

_They forced Potter to participate in order to make it seem like he was going mad with stress, not that we would blame him if he had, but he has not! They have done this to discredit him, to try and show him as a scared little boy and not the hero we know he is!_

_Was this their only motive? No! Because now who is Minister of Magic? Cornelius Fudge himself, one of the ones who organised the tournament and is partly responsible for forcing Potter into the tournament that could have ended his life, and did sadly end the life of Cedric Diggory._

_They have been very clever in their cover up, not leaving a shred of evidence of what they are doing but here at the Quibbler, we know the truth! We know what they are trying to do to poor Harry Potter, and we stand behind him! We encourage our readers to do the same, these are the beginnings of very dark times, and we must be united! This is what the Ministry are trying to do, separate us, scatter us so we cannot stand against them for truth and justice!_

_What will they do next to discredit him? What will the next Hogwarts year bring? Last year, a deadly tournament which Harry Potter was dragged into, but to remind our readers that the other three champions were chosen at random meaning one thing; THEY ARE WILLING TO LET OUR CHILDREN DIE!! for nothing more than their entertainment! This is madness! When will they draw a line? When will they stop doubting Potter in the truth that You-Know-Who is back? When will they stop covering their eyes and looking the other way while another war is starting?_

_These are dark times, and we must stand united behind Harry Potter; Saviour of the Wizarding world. We believe you Harry, and we stand behind you! We will not let Them win!_

Harry smiled and handed it back to her, “Thank you, Luna. It means a lot.”

Hermione clearly didn't approve of any article that was in the Quibbler but wisely didn't say anything.

“It's OK Harry.” Luna smiled, “I wanted you to know there was someone on your side you know. See you later.”

She turned and walked away without another word, as the train pulled into the station.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Harry and his friends climbed off the train, helping each other with their trunks. The first wave of carriages were filled quickly by students wanting to get out of the rain.

“Here. First years over here!” a voice called but it wasn't Hagrid's, it was Professor Grubbly-Plank who had taken over the lessons last year.

“Wait up.” Harry said to his friends.

“Do you think Hagrid is OK?” Pansy asked.

Harry shrugged, walking against the flow of students to get to Professor Grubbly-Plank.

“You're not a first year Mr Potter.” she said sharply.

“Yeah, I… I know that strangely.” Harry said, “I was wondering where Hagrid is?”

Professor Grubbly-Plank sighed, gathering up a few lost, wandering, first years, “He's not here.”

“So where is he?” Harry asked, trying not to get annoyed at her when she was clearly ignoring the question.

She looked him in the eye, “Mr Potter, I do not know where Hagrid is. Now we are both standing here in the rain for far longer than we need to be, getting wet. Stop asking me all these questions and get to your carriage.”

Harry huffed loudly and stomped away.

“Well?” Draco asked.

Harry just shook his head, “She either didn't know or didn't say. Come on, we're going to get soaked out here.”

They walked closer to the carriages and Harry stopped in his tracks again, he'd forgotten just how ghostly Thestrals were in real life. He's seen them at the end of the last term but the summer seemed to have lasted a life time.

“Harry come on!” Neville called.

Harry walked over and jumped up into the carriage, “Sorry. It's just, it's the Thestrals, they pull the carriages and I’d forgotten just how weird they looked.”

“It must be difficult, to see them, considering who you lost...” Daphne said quietly.

Harry nodded and stared out of the window as they made their way to school. He hopped out and held the door open for the others. Luna was standing nearby, stroking one of the Thestrals.

“You can see them too?” he asked as they walked into the castle.

Luna nodded, “Oh yes. Ever since I came to school I’ve been able to see them.”

Harry wanted to ask more but was swept along with the crowd into the hall. He sat next to Draco as normal, although they were all slightly further along the table now that half of them were Prefects.

Harry scanned the top table; Hagrid wasn't there, which didn't come as much of a shock but there was also a small woman that looked a little like a toad dressed in pink with a large bow in her hair. Harry's eyes widened in shock.

“She was at my trial.” Harry said quietly, so that no one around them could hear.

“Are you sure?” Daphne whispered.

Harry nodded, “Yeah. I’m sure I’m sure.”

He was about to say more when the double doors opened again, letting in a steam of scared, wet first years lined up along the front of the hall. Professor McGonagall walked smartly over and placed the sorting hat and it's three legged stool in front before stepping back. The rip that formed the sorting hat's mouth opened and the room fell silent.

“In times of old, when I was new,

And Hogwarts barely started,

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach"

The four good friends decided.

And never did they dream that they

Might some day be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there, so I can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those

Whose ancestry's purest."

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name."

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot

And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife

When first they came to light.

For each of the four founders had

A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,

For instance, Slytherin

Took only pure-blood wizards

Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest

and taught them all she knew,

Thus, the houses and their founders

Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony

For several happy years,

But then discord crept among us

Feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four

Had once held up our school

Now turned upon each other and

Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school

Must meet an early end.

What with duelling and with fighting

And the clash of friend on friend.

And at last there came a morning

When old Slytherin departed

And though the fighting then died out

He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four

Were whittled down to three

Have the Houses been united

As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here

And you all know the score:

I sort you into Houses

Because that is what I'm for.

But this year I'll go further,

Listen closely to my song:

Though condemned I am to split you

Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfil my duty

And must quarter every year

Still I wonder whether sorting

May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,

The warning history shows,

For our Hogwarts is in danger

From external, deadly foes.

And we must unite inside her

Or we'll crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you...

Let the Sorting now begin.”

Harry clapped along with the other students as the hat gave a small bow to each of the house tables before growing still again.

Harry gave his friends a small smile, “Well, looks like the sorting hat knows that things are coming.”

Draco nodded.

“It's definitely branched out a bit hasn't it?” Pansy whispered.

“I think it has before.” Daphne whispered, “I remember reading something about it feeling honour bound to say something, warn people when if fears the school will come under attack.”

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and stepped forward, holding up the long list of names.

“Abercrombie, Euan.”

Harry watched a terrified young boy step forward and be sorted into Gryffindor. Harry clapped with every sorting, even more so when they became a Slytherin, until finally 'Zeller, Rose' became a Hufflepuff and Professor McGonagall put the stool away.

He could feel himself growing more and more hungry, so was rather glad when the last student was sorted and sitting among her new house mates and Dumbledore stepped forward.

Harry wasn't sure how he felt seeing Dumbledore, considering how he had been treated over the summer but Harry couldn't deny that there was something very soothingly and comforting about having the Professor there.

“To our newcomers, welcome.” Dumbledore said, his arms opened wide, “To our old hands, welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not is. Tuck in!”

There was a round of applause as Dumbledore sat down and the golden plates before them all filled with food.

Harry happily filled his plate with lasagne, chips and garlic bread before tucking in. He was always hungry the first day back. The train journey seemed to quickly use up all the food he had for lunch.

“I wonder where Hagrid is.” Harry said towards the end of his meal. He'd just finished his second helping of pudding and it seemed odd that Hagrid still wasn't there.

The hall finished their food and turned to Professor Dumbledore who slowly stood up after the plates were wiped clean.

“Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start of term notices.” Dumbledore said calmly, “First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bound to students, and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too. Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Flich's office door.”

“How much do you want to bet most of that is Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?” Harry smirked.

“We have two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons for the time being. We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

There was a small round of applause to the new teachers. Harry took a deep breath and forced himself not to panic that Dumbledore hadn't said how long Hagrid would be gone for, it was clearly going to be a while though if they needed a substitute teacher.

Dumbledore smiled to each of the new Professors before continuing, “Try outs for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the-”

He was interrupted by a small noise from Professor Umbridge. He turned to smile at her, she sat there beaming like a toad that had eaten a very pleasant fly.

“Hem, hem.” she made the noise again.

Dumbledore looked a little taken aback; it wasn't normal for a teacher to interrupt him but he nodded to her and stepped down.

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Professor Umbridge simpered, the noise grated on the inside of Harry's skull, “for those kind words of welcome. Hem hem. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy, little faces looking up at me!”

Harry couldn't help but think that none of the faces 'looking up at her' were very happy; he certainly didn't appreciate being spoken to like a baby and it didn't look like many others did either.

“I'm very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I’m sure we'll be very good friends.” Umbridge beamed, “Hem hem.” Harry noticed the change in her voice, it was no longer put on and girly but almost threatening, “The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching.”

Professor Umbridge turned to the other Professors and gave them all a little bow. None of them looked impressed. Severus stared at her coolly, Professor McGonagall looked positively hawk like, glaring at Umbridge.

Umbridge gave another small 'hem hem' before turning back to the students, “Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then. Between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…”

Harry was finding it difficult to concentrate on what she was saying and being overly full wasn't helping. Several other students also weren't paying attention, some even going as far as to whisper conversations to their friends sitting next to them.

Umbridge however either didn't see this or ignored it, continuing regardless, “Because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.” she gave a small bow and sat back down.

Dumbledore clapped politely, encouraging everyone else to join in. Harry clapped his hands twice before shaking his head.

“What a load of rubbish.” he muttered.

“Bit darker than that really.” Daphne whispered.

Draco nodded but Pansy looked as confused as Harry.

“To sum up,” Draco said, “The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts.”

“That's not a good sign.” Harry said, frowning, “I mean, Hogwarts has always been separate from the Ministry.” it was the only thing that had stopped him getting into serious trouble over the years.

Draco, Pansy and Daphne nodded. Dumbledore had stood up again to finish his speech,

“Thank you for your words, Dolores. As I was saying those wishing to try out for the house Quidditch teams please speak to your team captains. I think that's all, so I suggest you all get a good nights sleep, ready bright and early to enjoy your weekend before classes start Monday morning. Good night all.”

“We'll see you in the common room.” Draco said, standing up, “We have to help the first years find their way.”

He and Pansy walked off towards the end of the table where the four other house Prefects were waiting.

Harry smirked at Daphne, “Shall we take a leisurely stroll to the common room?”

Daphne grabbed his arm and batted her eyelashes, “Well I don't know, won't we get lost without our brave Prefects to show us the way?” she simpered dramatically.

“We can hear you!” Pansy yelled at them, laughing.

Harry grinned and walked quickly with Daphne out the hall and to the Slytherin common room. He waited until Pansy and Draco had finished showing the new students around before saying goodnight and heading to bed.

He wasn't surprised to see a note, laying on his pillow from Hermione asking to meet with her outside, down by the lake, after breakfast tomorrow. Harry knew she would be thinking over what Umbridge had said, just as he was. Could it be Umbridge had already managed to 'prune' Hagrid away and that was why he was gone?

Despite that thought swimming around his head, Harry was quickly asleep once he'd slipped into his warm, soft sheets, with the soft noise of the waves just outside.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Harry woke to the softly snoring Crabbe and Goyle. Blaise had already left the dorm, his bed neatly made up as always.

Draco was also awake, laying in bed and reading. He spotted Harry stir and put his book down, turning to face him, “We had a message from Hermione earlier, care of a very excited Dobby but I told him to tell her that you were still asleep.”

Harry shoved his glasses on and mumbled his thanks, he still felt half asleep now.

“She said that she'll study in the Great Hall so she will be able to see when we're down.” Draco explained getting out of bed and digging his clothes out.

Harry nodded and did the same, “What's with all the secrecy?” he asked, “It's not like she's not sat at our table before.”

Draco shrugged, “I think she's worried about… one of the new teachers.” Draco said, looking at Crabbe and Goyle, “Always difficult to judge how staff changes will effect things.”

Harry was pretty sure they were asleep but he agreed with Draco.

They both dressed quickly and went to the Great Hall. Pansy and Daphne were already there so Harry flopped down next to them.

“Bacon?” Daphne offered, pushing the dish closer to them.

Harry nodded gratefully and made himself a bacon butty, wrapping it in a napkin, “I fancy eating outside this morning, seems like a nice day.”

“Sounds good to me.” Draco nodded, wrapping up a couple of croissants, “It wont be long before it's too cold to be outside.”

Daphne and Pansy also agreed, standing up,

“Exactly. We should take advantage of the good weather we're having.” Pansy smiled.

Hermione and Neville followed the out a few minutes, and a few people, later so they wouldn't be spotted by Umbridge, who was, as Hermione had expected, smiling down from the teachers table, watching the students.

Harry, Draco, Pansy and Daphne headed straight for the spot where the rocks jutted out into the lake that they liked to sit on and made themselves comfortable on the grass. Hermione and Neville joined them.

“I think we're too far from the castle to be over heard.” Hermione said, looking around, “And there's no where for them to spy on us here.”

Harry nodded, “Plus it's really pretty here.” He grinned, “So what you need to talk to us about?”

“Umbridge, mostly. And the broader implications of her little speech yesterday.” Hermione said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“Harry said she was at his trial.” Daphne said.

Harry nodded, “Yeah. She was sitting fairly close to Fudge so I think she's pretty high up in the Ministry. She got all defensive when I said I was attacked by Dementors.”

“Defensive how?” Neville asked.

“Dumbledore was trying to say that it was Voldemort who'd sent them after me and she got all huffy, saying he was implying that the Ministry had sent them.” Harry explained. It was all a bit blurry in his head now, he'd just been so relieved he'd gotten through it.

“That's a little worrying in itself.” Daphne said, “Bit of a guilty conscience perhaps?”

Harry hadn't thought of that. The Ministry certainly weren't the biggest Harry Potter fans at the moment but having his soul sucked out seemed a little extreme… he hoped.

“Dumbledore seemed pretty sure it was Voldemort who sent them.” Harry said, shaking his head, “I think the Ministry would rather I just shut up, sending dark creatures after me really isn't going to help there.”

“Right now, whoever sent the Dementors after Harry isn't the issue, no offence.” Neville said, “It's that the Ministry have basically put a spy into Hogwarts.”

“Yes.” Pansy nodded, “I didn't like all that talk of 'pruning what ought to be prohibited'. Who chooses what is prohibited? And do they mean little things or teachers or whole classes or students?”

“My guess is all of the above.” Harry sighed, flopping back onto the cool grass, the warm sun shining down on his face, “Fudge wasn't happy that Dumbledore was talking about Voldemort being back, and he's had a whole summer to plan his next move.”

“We've all seen what's been in the paper.” Neville added “Even my Gran has cancelled her subscription. Says the Ministry has gone right down hill.”

Harry was pleased he had some support, clearly not everyone thought he was a nut case.

“Don't look now, but she's looking for us.” Daphne said, not looking up from the daisy chain she was making, “I just spotted her, she's looking our way but I don't think she's going to come over.”

Harry wanted to look behind him to see Umbridge standing there, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end now he knew she was watching him.

“I think it's me and Dumbledore she's after you know.” he said quietly, “Bet you anything. You'd be better off keeping your distance.”

Hermione shook her head, “Not just you. The Ministry will go after anyone who believes that Voldemort is back. Unless we all want to bury our heads in the sand they'll still hate us all.”

Harry feared that that was the case, it couldn't be a coincidence that Daphne's parents had had their side along apparition permits refused. He could deal with him being targeted but it was far more difficult when they were after his friends as well.

Harry was not overly enthusiastic to be sitting at the Slytherin table come Monday morning, watching porridge drip off his spoon. Severus was wondering up and down the table, handing out the new timetables.

“Hello Mr Potter.” He said. Harry saw his eyes quickly dart towards Umbridge and understood, “Here is your timetable, Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, Miss Greengrass.” he handed them the bits of parchment before wondering off down the table.

Harry saw it and groaned, “Have you seen this? Herbology, double Potions, Divination and then double Defence Against the Dark Arts! I can't think of a worse Monday.”

“I'm sure your Father is delighted to hear that.” Draco smirked.

“Ha ha.” Harry said, “Trelawney and that Umbridge woman.”

“It could be worse,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand, “we could have Binns as well.”

Harry conceded the point but strangely it didn't make him feel all that much better.

He was just wondering up from the greenhouses when he ran into an annoyed looking Hermione.

“If Ronald asks to borrow my notes one more time…” she fumed, “He could at least try and pay attention in class.”

“Hermione, just say no.” Harry laughed, “Or even better, write out a set of fake notes where all the information is wrong.”

“Harry that's mean.” Hermione frowned, trying to look disapproving.

Harry shrugged, “Then he should pay attention in class.”

They were walking towards the Potion room when they ran into Cho Chang. Harry felt himself blush.

“Hi Harry.” she said, smiling.

Harry waved, “Hi. How are you?”

She shrugged, “Ok. It was tough over the summer after… you know. I’m glad to be back though.”

Harry nodded. He knew what she meant and he wasn't been anywhere near as close to Cedric as Cho had been.

“I wanted to let you know that I-” Cho began.

“Is that a Tornados badge?” Ron asked, coming over to them and pointing to the badge she had pinned to her robes.

Cho took a step back, “Umm yes. Harry I-”

“You don't really support them do you?” Ron said, pulling a rather disbelieving face.

Cho crossed her arms, “Yes, I do actually.”

“Ron we were kinda talking here.” Harry hinted.

Ron ignored him, copying Cho's movement, crossing his own arms, “Well, have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?”

Cho looked rather offended at the question, “Since I was six, is that good enough for you? I’ll see you around Harry.” she said before walking quickly away.

“What was all that about?” Harry demanded.

Ron looked at him confused, “What do you mean? I was only asking.”

“No, no you weren't!” Harry snapped, “You were being accusing and demanding and rude.”

Ron rolled his eyes, “Well, come on. You know half the people wearing those badges only got them last season.”

“So?” Harry asked.

“Well, it means they're not real fans.” Ron said, as though that answered everything.

Harry shook his head, “That's not up to you. No one is born supporting a team or anything else. You're not some how better than everyone!” he snapped, “Stop pretending we're friends just because we were stuck in a house for a lot of the summer together.”

Ron looked a little taken aback. Harry knew that it was a slightly unnecessary snap, he was just so annoyed, he'd wanted to talk to Cho and Ron had chased her away.

Harry moved slightly into the line for Potions, Ron standing, moodily behind him. The classroom door opened and they walked quickly inside taking their seats.

“Settle down.” said Severus coolly.

Harry sat at the four person desk with Hermione, Pansy and Daphne, leaving Draco and Neville with Ron and another Gryffindor. Harry mouthed a sorry and grinned at them.

“Before we begin today's lesson,” said Snape, “I think it only appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some in this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your O.W.L or suffer my… displeasure. After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me. I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T Potions class, which means some of us will certainly be saying goodbye. But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell. So whether or not you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect.”

Professor Snape looked around the room, waiting for this information to sink in, before turning and writing that days work on the board.

The Draught of Peace was a very tricky potion. Harry reread all of the instructions but his potion was giving off a dark grey smoke where as Pansy, Daphne and Hermione's were all giving a light grey smoke.

“Shit.” Harry said, spotting the hellebore out on Hermione's desk, “I forgot to put the hellebore in.” he whispered, “Think I could do it now?”

Pansy shook her head, “No, don't be stupid!” she hissed.

Daphne and Hermione nodded.

“You have no idea what that could do Harry.” Hermione said strictly, “You should of read the instructions better.”

Harry huffed loudly, causing Professor Snape to raise his head to see what the noise was about, thankfully he turned back to his book rather than coming over to inspect Harry's potion.

“I did read them I swear.” Harry said, “I'm just distracted I guess.”

Daphne gave him a comforting smile, “Don't worry. Ron's is giving out green sparks, so I don't know what that boy has managed to do.” She said pointing to the other Gryffindor at Ron's table, who's cauldron was giving out nothing at all, but his fire seemed determined to go out.

“Time is up.” Professor Snape called out, snapping his book closed, “Can everyone please bring up a flagon of their potions for me to mark. Please label them correctly, anyone not putting their name clearly on their sample will not receive any marks.”

Harry filled his flagon and corked it tightly, his at least was a lot better than some around the room. Ron's had filled the room with the smell of rotten eggs and Goyle's which had exploded his flagon and set his robes on fire.

Harry snorted a laugh and gave Goyle a big smile, “Nice work there.”

Goyle glared at him and shoved passed him to put his broken flagon in the bin. It was Divination next, quite possibly Harry's least favourite subject. He said goodbye to Draco, who luckily didn't take Divination and trudged hopelessly towards the Divination tower.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Harry poked his head up through the trap door that led to Professor Trelawney's classroom and gave himself a moment to adjust to the heady smell on incense before climbing all the way through.

“I can feel the heat from down here.” Daphne grumbled, climbing up the ladder behind him.

Harry wasn't surprised to see Professor Trelawney, wrapped in several shawls next to the fire glaring into space.

Harry sat down in one of the comfortable armchairs, next to Daphne and Pansy. Ron spotted him and walked quickly over to sit next to Harry.

“Sorry about earlier.” Ron said cheerfully, “I didn't mean to upset that Chang girl.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Too late to do anything about it now.”

“Do you like her?” Ron asked.

Harry glared at him, “What's it to do with you?”

Ron shrugged, “I was just wondering. I like Lavender. I’ve got a bit of a thing for blondes.”

Harry didn't respond, he wasn't sure what to say to that.

“Hermione would look better with blonde hair.” Ron mused.

“Hermione is very pretty at the moment.” Harry hissed.

Ron looked slightly shocked, “Oh, so you like Hermione? I thought you'd want someone a little prettier than her.”

Harry was about to snap something back, to defend his friends but all of the students had now taken their seats and Professor Trelawney had risen from her own seat to address them all.

“Good day,” Professor Trelawney said in her strange, misty voice, “And welcome back to Divination. I have, of course, been following your fortunes most carefully over the holidays, and am delighted to see that you have all returned to Hogwarts safely… as, of course, I knew you would. On the tables before you you will find copies of 'The Dream Oracle' by Inigo Imago. Dream interpretation is a most important means of divining the future and one that may very probably be tested in your O.W.L. Not, of course, that I believe examination passes or failures are of the greatest importance when it comes to the sacred art of divination. If you have the Seeing Eye, certificates and grades matter very little. However the Headmaster likes you to sit the examination, so… Turn, please, to the introduction and read what Imago has to say on the matter of dream interpretation. Then, divide into pairs. Use 'The Dream Oracle' to interpret each other's most recent dreams. Carry on.”

It was a very long introduction, many times saying the same thing over and over in a different way. Thankfully it was not a double lesson so by the time he'd read through the introduction there was only ten minutes left to the lesson.

Much to his dismay Daphne and Pansy were far faster at reading than he was and had already paired up with one another leaving Harry with an eager looking Ron.

Harry forced a smile, “Go on then? What did you dream about?”

“I dreamed I was playing Quidditch.” Ron shrugged.

The book was clear you needed more details than that, “I need more details.” Harry sighed, “Like what were you wearing? What broom were you ridding?”

“I was wearing Gryffindor robes.” Ron said, “And I can't remember which broom I was riding but it was fast. So go on, what does it mean?”

“It means you're jealous of your brothers, you feel you will never be as good as them and Neville becoming Prefect rather than you, when nearly everyone else in your family has managed to achieve the honour, has caused all of this self doubt to resurface.” Harry said simply.

Ron looked at him in shock, “Yeah well…”

The bell rang, giving Ron a convenient excuse to turn his attention from Harry and packed his bag away.

“Homework please.” Professor Trelawney said, as a couple of students tried to make it to the door before she got the chance, “I would like you all to keep a dream diary, that we will all decipher in the next lesson.”

Harry packed his bag away, at least it was homework that wouldn't take long. A voice in the back of his head told him to leave out the bit about a strange black door at the end of a long corridor.

Harry made sure Ron had a little bit of distance on him before climbing down the ladder with Daphne and Pansy. He didn't fancy having to have an awkward walk all the way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

The door was already wide open when they got there so they filed into the classroom quietly. Draco was already sitting, in the middle row, Harry slipped into the seat next to him, Daphne and Pansy sitting at the desk beside them, Hermione and Neville just behind.

Professor Umbridge was standing at the front of the class, with a beaming smile, wearing the ugliest pink cardigan Harry had ever seen. It wasn't long before all the seats were filled and Professor Umbridge flicked her wand, closing the door.

“Well, good afternoon!” she said happily.

A few people mumbled good afternoon back to her but most were silent.

“Tut tut.” sighed Professor Umbridge, “That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply, 'Good afternoon Professor Umbridge'. One more time please. Good afternoon class.”

“Good afternoon Professor Umbridge.” they chanted back to her.

“There, now.” Professor Umbridge said sweetly, “That wasn't too difficult, was it? Now wands away please, you shan't be needing them but you will be needing your quills.”

Harry looked over to Draco for a second before putting his wand away and laying out his quill and ink.

Professor Umbridge was still holding her own, rather short wand, and tapped the blackboard, at once the words 'DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: A Return to Basic Principles' appeared.

“Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?” Professor Umbridge beamed down at them, “The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory centred, Ministry approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please.”

Once again Professor Umbridge tapped her wand on the blackboard, causing another set of writing to appear.

' **COURSE AIMS:**

**1: Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.**

**2: Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.**

**3: Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.'**

Harry quickly wrote down the 'course aims'. He had a lot of questions, he didn't think he was going to get any answers though. The biggest question playing on his mind was how on earth they were going to pass their O.W.L, which needed practical magic without learning to use it?

Once the sound of scratching quills had died down and everyone had turned back to Professor Umbridge, she waited a few moments patiently before continuing.

“Very good, Miss Brown you have lovely hand writing.” Professor Umbridge smiled to a Gryffindor girl in the front row, “Has everybody got a copy of 'Defensive Magical Theory' by Wilbert Slinkhard?”

There was a murmur of agreement from the class.

Professor Umbridge sighed dramatically, “Well I think we'll try that again, don't you? Yes Professor Umbridge or No Professor Umbridge. So, has everyone got a copy of 'Defensive Magical Theory' by Wilbert Slinkhard?”

“Yes Professor Umbridge.” rang through the classroom.

It was grating on Harry that she was treating them like children, worse than that; there was no respect. Mrs Ijewsky had treated them with respect from the day they started school at five years old and not like simpletons.

“Very good.” Professor Umbridge smiled, “I should like you to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One, Basics for Beginners'. There will be no need to talk.”

Harry slowly turned the pages and sighed, he'd already flicked through the book so already knew how desperately dull it was. Everything was over written and easily as boring as one of Professor Binn's lectures.

Professor Umbridge was settled behind the desk, sitting down but still watching them all, as though watching children read was the most interesting thing in the world.

Hermione however wasn't reading; she was sitting, the book closed before her, with her hand raised in the air. Professor Umbridge was clearly trying to ignore her.

Several more minutes passed, Harry struggling to concentrate on the chapter he should have been reading with Hermione sitting right behind him, her hand still raised up. Several other people were watching her as well. Professor Umbridge was finally started to get annoyed with the lack of concentration from her students.

Professor Umbridge pretended she had just spotted Hermione's hand, “Do you have a question about the chapter, dear?”

“Not about the chapter no.” Hermione said politely.

“Well, we're reading just now.” Professor Umbridge whispered, still smiling, “If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class.”

“I've got a query about your course aims.” Said Hermione, clearly trying to keep her voice as inoffensive as possible.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrow, “I see, what is you name, dear?”

“Hermione Granger, Professor Umbridge.” Hermione said clearly.

“Well, Miss Granger, I think you'll the course aims are perfectly clear if you just read through them carefully.” Said Professor Umbridge, trying her best to keep her voice annoyingly sweet.

“Well, I don't.” Hermione said bluntly, “There is nothing about actually using defensive spells.”

Harry looked up, giving up on pretending he was reading his book. Professor Umbridge's smile wavered for a moment.

“Using defensive spells?” Professor Umbridge gave a little laugh, “Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. Are you expecting to be attacked in my classroom?”

“We're not going to use magic?” Ron gasped.

Professor Umbridge sighed loudly, “Students will raise their hands if they wish to speak in my class, Mr…?”

“Weasley.” Ron said, thrusting his arm into the air, “Ron Weasley.”

Professor Umbridge smiled sweetly and then turned her back on him so she could ignore him more easily.

“Yes, Miss Granger? You waned to ask something else?” Professor Umbridge asked, giving another little laugh.

Hermione nodded, “Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practise defensive spells?”

“Are you a Ministry trained educational expert, Miss Granger?” Professor Umbridge asked, batting her eyelashes and smiling.

“No but-”

“Well then, I’m afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point’ of any class is. Wizards and witches much older and cleverer than you have devised our new programme of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk free way...”

“I really don't think that's going to be very helpful.” Harry said, rolling his eyes, “If we're going to have to fight, it's never going to be 'risk free'.”

“Hand!” Professor Umbridge snapped, before gaining control of herself, “Hand, Mr Potter.”

Professor Umbridge looked around, several more people hand their hands in the air now and she looked more than a little flustered over her lack of control.

“And your name is?” Professor Umbridge asked.

“Neville Longbottom.” Neville said, sitting up a little taller, “I agree with Harry; if we are attacked it's not going to be risk free, is it?”

“I repeat,” said Professor Umbridge, smiling in an overly sweet smile, “do you really expect to be attacked in my classroom?”

Neville gritted his teeth, “We're not going to be in this classroom forever-”

“I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school.” Professor Umbridge said, sarcastically, “But you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed… not to mention, extremely dangerous half-breeds.”

Harry slammed his hand on the desk, “If you are talking about Professor Lupin he was a brilliant teacher and far more deserving of the title of Professor than you are!” he yelled, his anger bursting from him before he could stop it.

“Mr Potter!” Professor Umbridge said with fake shock, “That is more than enough, ten points from Slytherin. As I was saying, very irresponsible wizards who have frightened and scared you into believe there are dark wizards around every corner!”

“No they haven't.” Daphne snapped, “We just-”

“Quiet, please all of you!” Umbridge laughed, “Now really, who would want to attack children, such as yourselves?”

“Oh, I don't know.” Harry said, dramatically pretending to think, “Lord Voldemort maybe?”

The room fell silent, most people weren't used to people saying Voldemort's name out loud. Professor Umbridge took several deep breaths, glaring down at Harry.

“Ten more points from Slytherin Mr Potter.” Umbridge said coolly, “Let me make this very clear to all of you, you have been told that a certain dark wizard has magically come back from the dead.”

“He wasn't dead!” Harry told her, “But yes, he is back.”

Professor Umbridge shook her head, “This. Is. A. Lie.”

“I'm not lying!” Harry said, “I was there! I saw him, I fought him!”

“Detention Mr Potter.” Umbridge said quietly, “In my office, five o'clock tomorrow evening. I repeat: this is a lie. There is no dark wizard back. Now all of you, back to your books, in silence.”

Hermione raised her hand again.

“No more questions.” Professor Umbridge said, a slight edge to her voice.

Harry took several deep breaths. He had already said too much, she'd wanted him to explode at her, that much was clear but there was so much more he wanted to say. He dug his nails into his palms to stop himself from shouting more to her, asking, demanding to know how she thought Cedric had died but he didn't. He managed to keep his head buried in his book until the bell rang and he could quickly leave the class.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Dinner that evening was not a pleasant experience. Harry had no objection to the fish pie, which was one of his favourites, but the constant whispers around him he would have rather done without.

His yelling at Professor Umbridge had spread around the school faster than even the normal speed of which rumours spread. On top of this, no one seemed to care any more that Harry could hear them.

Slytherin table rarely said anything against its own house if the other houses were involved but the other three houses seemed to have no issue with talking loudly whenever Harry was near.

“He says he saw Cedric die.”

“He says it was You-Know-Who.”

“He says he duelled with him.”

“As if.”

Harry ignored them, “I… I just wish people had had more time at school before Dumbledore had to send everyone home for their heads to be filled with the crap the Daily Prophet is putting out.”

Daphne nodded, “That would have been useful for sure. Unfortunately things like the Daily Prophet will always exist and always cater to the lowest common denominator.”

Gemini glared at him down the table.

“What does she want?” Pansy hissed.

Gemini was sitting, picking at her food with a brother either side of her and a gaggle of friends. They were all talking, laughing loudly. Rodolphus was clearly the one currently holding court, even if Gemini was in the middle.

“I mean the Potter boy, look at him!” Rodolphus laughed, “You might as well have said Corvus here beat You-Know-Who!”

Gemini glared at her brother, “I think, we should turn to more pleasant topics, brother. Enough of the Potter boy. I will say though, _if_ Potter beat the Dark Lord, it was no more than luck. Now, someone who's had a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson tell me what Umbridge is like, are the rumours true?”

Millicent was more than happy to shuffle closer to Rodolphus and relay the whole story of how Harry had a melt down in the middle of class.

Harry felt his blood boil, he was about to shout something when Daphne put a comforting hand on his, “Harry calm down.” she whispered, “You know they're not worth it.”

Harry nodded, he did know that, of course he knew that but it was still there, like it was something more than he could control. He shook his head and focused on finishing his dinner as soon as he could so he could get going on his homework.

Severus rose from the teachers table and walked quickly over, “Mr Potter, your potion was most unsatisfactory. Please see me in my office after dinner.” He didn't say anything else before leaving the room quickly.

Harry sighed, “It wasn't that bad.”

“Yes it was, Harry.” Draco said, giving him a kick under the table.

Harry's brain caught up, “Well, I didn't say it was great.”

He finished his food quickly, skipping pudding and heading down to Severus's office. He knocked once and the door swung open. Severus was sitting behind a large pile of marking, his quill scratching away.

“Come in, Mr Potter.”

Harry went through the door and shut it firmly behind him, “It sounds so weird when you say that.”

Severus smiled, “You're telling me? I’m sorry for the formality, Harry. Professor Umbridge made a point of telling me how _hard_ it must be to have a step son that goes to school where I work and to keep appropriate boundaries.”

Harry took a step forward and sat down on the other side of the desk, “I assume you heard what your 'step son' did in her class today?”

“Harry I have viewed you as my son since you were a baby and I still do, she… Professor Umbridge seeks to divide us, anyone who stands against the Ministry cannot be allied.” Severus assured him, “But yes, I did hear what happened and I must say, challenging her like that was not the smartest of moves.”

Harry looked down to his fingers, “Yeah I know. She was calling me a liar, saying I made it all up.”

Severus nodded, “I know. We know the truth, however, and that is all that matters.”

Harry nodded, “I know. I will try harder in future.”

“Good.” Severus said, “I would say your potion was actually very good, although you forgot to add the hellebore.”

Harry grinned, “Yeah I remembered too late. Pansy suggested that adding it in late might not be the best idea in the world.”

Severus rolled his eyes, “Well at least your friends have some sense; you would have had a far worse potion had you not listened to them. When is your detention?”

“Tomorrow evening, five o'clock.” Harry said.

Severus nodded and stood up to move round the desk, “Just try and keep your head down. I've heard the rumours that Umbridge is not having any practical magic in her class.”

Harry nodded, “Yes. At least that's what she's saying at the moment.”

“Yes I thought that might be the case, well ‘feared’ might be a better word that thought.” Severus said, “If you need any help, put a little star on the corner of your potion label and I will call you, and your friends back to my office.”

“Thank you Dad.” Harry said, giving him a half smile.

Severus wrapped him in a hug. Harry realised there was only half a dozen inches or so between their heights now he'd grown so much over the summer.

“Right.” Severus said after a moment, “I don't think it would be worth the risk of you staying too long currently. There are many people watching us at the moment.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, you're right. It's good to know you have my back though.”

Severus smiled, “Harry, I will always have your back.”

Harry wondered through the corridor alone. He knew his friends would be waiting for him, tucked by the fire working on their already large piles of homework, but it was strange to be walking the corridor alone.

“Harry!” Ron called, “What are you doing down here?”

“I'm on the way to the common room, I was called into see Professor Snape about my potion.” Harry said, slowing down, it's not like there was anywhere he could hide down here, “What about you?”

“Same, well about the potion bit.” Ron said, shrugging, “I think I messed mine up a bit.”

Harry remembered the bright green sparks and foul smell that Ron's potion created, “Yeah it was a tricky one.”

Ron looked awkwardly at Harry, “Seamus doesn't believe you; his Mum didn't want to let him come back this year because of the things the Daily Prophet is saying about you, and Dumbledore.”

Harry nodded, “Good to know. I think, unfortunately, a lot of people believe that crap.”

Ron nodded, still looking awkward and very serious, “Yeah… yeah… there's no truth in it, is there? I mean, I know Mum and Dad and everyone in the Order think that You-Know-Who is back but… well, it's just a really dramatic story, you know?”

Harry took several deep breaths, wishing he'd just kept walking and ignored Ron calling him, “Bit of a difficult one to make up, really. Look, everything I’ve said is true, OK?”

Ron nodded, “Yeah, I mean I believed you, it's just-”

“You wanted to check?” Harry sighed, “Yeah well, I guess I can't really blame you there.”

Ron looked rather guilty, “Sorry.”

Harry shrugged, “You'd better get to Da… Professor Snape, he doesn't like to be kept waiting.”

“Oh yeah. See you around Harry.” Ron said, waving goodbye.

Harry was glad he was alone then. He was fed up of people doubting him, of acting like he was insane or some kind of nut case who loved attention so much he was willing to make up the most ridiculous of stories.

There was a part of Harry that wished he hadn't been allowed to go back to school; it would of saved him from having to deal with stupid people and their stupid closed mindedness. He would be home, having read to Danica before she went to bed, sitting with hot chocolate, maybe playing exploding snap with Sirius and Nikka.

Harry shook his head. He couldn't think like that; for all that would be easier, it wasn't what was right. Harry needed to be at school, surrounded by people so he could show them that they were wrong.

He sighed and wandered to the common room, the need for hot chocolate and card games could be sorted at least. Harry grinned as he saw his friends, as predicted, huddled around a table near the fire, working on their homework.

“Hi Harry.” Draco called, shuffling over to make room for Harry.

Harry smiled and sat down, digging his homework out of his bag. Daphne handed over her notes from Divination.

“These should help with you dream journal.” Daphne said, “According to that awful book, these are the details you need.”

“Well I know I'm making it all up.” Pansy said, “I don't want her nosing around my real dreams.”

Harry had to agree, he wasn't fond of the idea of anyone messing around with his dreams let alone Ron and Professor Trelawney.

“I fancy hot chocolate.” he sighed, looking at the pile of homework he had after just one day.

“I'm on it.” Daphne grinned.

She returned a few minutes later with a tray of steaming mugs, topped with whipped cream. Harry took a deep sip, feeling himself relax.

“So, what did Professor Snape need to talk to you about?” Pansy asked, looking around to make sure they weren't over heard.

Harry shrugged, he didn't feel like he could really talk about it here, “Just wanted to say he thought my potion wasn't up to what he expected from an O.W.L student.” he said, writing down quickly what actually happened and passing it around.

“We can go over some Potion basics tomorrow if you'd like.” Daphne offered, “Down by the lake.”

Harry smiled and nodded, “Yeah, maybe get Hermione and Neville to give us a hand. I mean, the more studying the better this year.”

Draco nodded in agreement, “Yep. Sounds like a plan.”

  
Harry turned back to his homework, between them they were managing to make a fairly good dent in the pile.

He looked over to the window. Gemini was sitting on the higher level of the common room, next to the only window above the level of the lake, pretending to read, looking up and the sky every so often.

“Stop looking.” Rodolphus said, in a bored voice, “We'll get news when they've got some free time.”

Gemini glared at him, “Where is Corvus?”

Rodolphus shrugged, “How should I know?”

Gemini clenched her fists to stop herself from smacking him one, “You… we agreed we should keep a better eye on him, under the circumstances.”

Rodolphus rolled his eyes, “Please. What on earth could he possibly do? He's just a kid.”

Gemini snapped her book shut, “We are all being watched right now.” she hissed, “Our family is at the centre of something that is going to change the world, we cannot have that pathetic little… he is family, therefore, if he is judged and found wanting, so are the rest of us.”

Rodolphus shook his head, “You're so bloody dramatic. I’ll go look for him later.”

“I'll go now. I would prefer this done correctly.” Gemini sniffed, leaving the common room.

Corvus was sitting in the library, working on his homework with Thomas. They were lay outs for greenhouses with a set list of plants that they had to arrange in the best layout to insure optimum growth.

“Is this right?” Thomas asked him.

Corvus looked over it and smirked, “Not even close. You'll just end up with a lot of shrivelled seedlings if you do that.”

Thomas dramatically flopped his head onto the table, “You'd think I'd get at least a little bit of my brother’s ability for Herbology.”

Corvus smiled, “It's fine. Look, Borage prefers to be in average fertilised soil, dragon dug is too strong for it. It's also a good idea to plant it around strawberries or something else that will attract bees, so I’d stick it next to… Gem… what, what are you doing here?” the smiled slid from Corvus's face as he saw his sister, glaring at him.

“I could as you the same thing, dear brother. Who's this? He's not a Slytherin.” Gemini hissed.

Thomas coughed awkwardly, “I'm Thomas, Thomas Longbottom.”

Gemini let out a nasty laugh, “Well at least it's only a blood traitor, not a mud blood or something worse.” she muttered under her breath, “You're a Gryffindor aren't you? All the Longbottoms are in _that_ house.”

Thomas nodded, “Yeah. What's it to you?”

Gemini glared at him, “Come along Corvus.” she said, slamming his books shut before shoving them, roughly into his bag and holding it out for him, “I'll help you with your homework, in our common room.”

“Actually I was just-” Corvus said quietly.

“Now.” Gemini snapped.

  
Corvus stood up, slamming his hands on the table, earning him an angry look from Madam Pince. He said goodbye to Thomas before leaving the library.

“I'm allowed to have friends.” he hissed at her.

Gemini grabbed his arm, digging her nails into his skin, “I'm going to talk to Mater and Sir about you not coming back to school next year, it has been a terrible effect on you.”

“Why?” Corvus asked, yanking his arm free, “Because I'm talking to people who aren't you?”

Gemini took several deep breaths and leaned in closer, making sure that there was no one else around, “Listen to me. You have no 'right' to friends, or anybody else. None of us do. You know what is happening right now, how important our family is. Are you trying to bring that down?”

Corvus lowered his head, “No.”

“If you are seen wanting, we all are. This year, this time is too important. You must understand that or are you really that stupid?” Gemini demanded.

Corvus shook his head, “No. I’m sorry.”

Gemini stood up straight again, “Good. So you should be. Now come along.”

Corvus followed her without a word, staring at his feet.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Gemini woke to her alarm and stretched. She'd spent far too long last night having to help her little brother with his homework, for all his seemed to have a reasonable grasp of Herbology, his Charms work was abysmal.

Rodolphus hadn't helped at all, of course he hadn't. Rodolphus never took responsibility for anything, too busy flirting with every girl in the area. Gemini shoved her feet into her heavy boots angrily.

“Urgh Gem, stop making so much noise.” one of the girls in the dorm moaned, rolling over in bed.

Gemini rolled her eyes and ignored the comment, making sure her hobnailed boots clicked as loudly as possible on her way to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and splashed her face to fully wake herself up.

She clutched at the edge of the sink and took several deep breaths, trying to calm her head down, “It's fine. It's all fine.” she said, leaving the empty bathroom behind her.

It didn't take her long to finish her homework, she wasn't really bothered about it if she was being truthful, she doubted that how many O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts someone had was really going to matter at the end of the day, once Lord Voldemort had taken over fully.

The important things would matter again, like how loyal your family was and who you'd come from. No one cared about that any more; there was a mudblood in Slytherin, sleeping in Gemini's very dorm right now.

Rodolphus hadn't appeared by breakfast time, Gemini watched the stream of students leave the dorm from the corner of her eye, pretending she was simply reading her book. It was getting late when she slammed her book shut and went up to his dorm.

“What are you doing still in bed?” she hissed, pulling the blanket off him.

Rodolphus blinked, adjusting his eyes to the light, “Gemini? What are you doing here.”

“We're going to be late for breakfast.” she said, digging out some clean clothes from him, “Why are you still in bed? Are you ill?”

Rodolphus rolled his eyes, “No. Just was up late last night, hanging out with my dorm mates.”

“Well, all of them seemed to be able to drag themselves out of bed on time.” Gemini huffed.

“Yes thank you.” Rodolphus huffed, snatching the clothes off her, “I don't need my little sister to lecture me.”

Gemini felt her rage burning inside her, “I expect to see you at breakfast in five minutes.” she hissed, storming out of the dorm and leaving her brother alone.

Corvus was already sat at the Slytherin table, eating his breakfast quietly. Gemini slid into the seat beside him and started buttering a slice of toast.

“Did you sleep well sister?” Corvus asked, after a few minutes of awkward silence.

“Yes.” Gemini said, “Very well, thank you.”

“Where's Rod?” Samuel asked, shuffling closer to Gemini for a moment.

“He's just getting up.” Gemini said pleasantly, “You keeping him up last night seems to have left him a little tired this morning.”

Samuel snorted a laugh, “I was in bed by ten. So were the rest of us.”

Gemini put her piece of toast down carefully, “So where was he?”

Samuel gave her a very superior look, “I suggest you ask that balmy blonde in Ravenclaw. Lovegood or whatever her name is.”

Gemini thanked him, trying to pretend she knew about this before.

Rodolphus sauntered down the table and sat across from Gemini, filling his plate with bacon and eggs.

Corvus picked nervously at his nails, “How about you, brother, did you sleep well?”

Rodolphus rolled his eyes and ignored him. Gemini could of slapped him if there weren't people watching. Millicent had just been leaving when she saw Rodolphus come in and went back to sit next to him.

“You look so nice today Rodolphus.” she simpered, “Would you like some coffee?”

Rodolphus flashed her a smile, “Pumpkin juice actually.”

“Millicent, would you mind giving us a moment?” Gemini asked.

“But I need to get Rod his pumpkin juice,” Millicent said.

“NOW.” Gemini snapped.

Millicent huffed loudly and put the jug of pumpkin juice down before leaving them alone.

“I sh… should be...” Corvus started, trying to stand up.

“Stay seated Corvus.” Gemini ordered coolly, “Rodolphus, where were you last night?”

Rodolphus rolled his eyes, “I've already told you I was just hanging with my dorm mates.”

Gemini's eyes blasted with anger, “No, you weren't. I’ve been… advised that you were hanging out with… Miss Lovegood.”

There was a slight blush around Rodolphus's ears, “I don't know what you are talking about.”

Gemini laughed, shaking her black ringlets down her back, “Oh please. Even she is too good for you, you just like seeing her pretty blonde hair. It's pathetic.”

Rodolphus glared at her, “Then what's the issue?” he snapped, “If she's too good for me?” he left out the part that she showed zero interest in him and kept moving away from him all evening.

Gemini rolled her eyes, “It's embarrassing. You are a Lestrange, not some love sick school boy who goes chasing every blonde who has a pair of legs. You are to leave her alone.”

Gemini didn't wait for an answer, the post owls had been and gone, clearly there was nothing for them from home yet. She left her half eaten toast and stormed from the table.

She could hear people laughing at her, oh their faces weren't moving but she could hear them in her head. Why did she have to be cursed with two such stupid brothers?

She stomped up to the dorm and made sure all of her books were ready for class in her bag. They had Defence Against the Dark Arts today, so at least she would have a chance to see what Umbridge was like.

Umbridge knew her parents, or at least so her father had told them before school had started again. He'd not said much, just that she was good enough at her job, if sometimes a little grating. Gemini was always one for making her own opinions though.

She forced her hair into a bobble, the first one snapping and making her want to scream again, and grabbed her bag before heading to class. Rodolphus was waiting for her in the common room, his books tucked into his open rucksack.

Gemini rolled her eyes and did the bag up, “Well, at least you managed to brush your hair this morning. Corvus you look a mess.” she hissed, “Leave a note for the house elves that you expect your robes to be properly ironed. We'll see you at dinner, Corvus. And stay away from… unneeded distractions.”

Corvus gave a small nod before quickly leaving the common room. Gemini could see Harry and his friends talking in the corner, giving her the odd look.

“Can I help you?” Gemini snapped, “Dear cousin.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Go to class, Gem.” _you look pathetic anyway._

“How dare you talk to me that way?” she hissed, moving towards them. She shrugged off Rodolphus who'd tried to pull her back, “You pathetic little blood traitor.”

Harry stood up to face her, “What did you just say?”

Gemini looked him up and down in disgust, “Pathetic.”

“You know it wouldn't kill you, Gemini, to leave your brothers alone for once. Is it any wonder that Corvus can't wait to get away from you?” Daphne said, rolling her eyes.

“So you are talking about us behind our backs?” Gemini said, as calmly as she could, which wasn't very.

Pansy shook her head in despair, “No. Of course not. Gods, you're paranoid.”

Harry, Daphne, Pansy and Draco picked up their bags and books and left her standing there, fuming.

“Come on Gem we're going to be late for class.” Rodolphus said, picking at his nails in boredom.

Gemini took several deep breaths, “Don't call me that. My name is Gemini, not _Gem_.” she said, leading him out of the common room.

Rodolphus sighed and followed his sister. He wished he was a year older, so he could be in Luna's class every once in a while. He knew everyone thought she was a bit 'off' but she was so pretty.

Gemini smacked his shoulder, “What did I say?” she hissed, “Gods, can't you keep your eyes off her for a second?”

Rodolphus glared at her, “Get to class. We've got Potions first.”

Gemini wasn't sure what she was expecting when they lined up, after lunch, for their double Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. She's at least managed to keep her brothers in line over lunch so the day wasn't a complete waste.

The door to the classroom opened and they filled in. Gemini took a seat, towards the back of the class, looking Professor Umbridge up and down; it was hard to take an adult seriously when they were dressed like a cheap valentines day teddy bear.

“Please take your seats.” Professor Umbridge said sweetly.

Rodolphus rolled his eyes at the fact his sister had once again sat next to him. Several girls grumbled, disappointed they couldn't sit next to their crush.

“Well, it is good to see you all. Good afternoon class.” Professor Umbridge smiled.

Gemini, along with the rest of the class, looked at Professor Umbridge in confusion; Hogwarts teachers didn't address their students like that.

Professor Umbridge gave a little sigh, “Well that will not do. You are my last class for the first time and all of them have been most unsatisfactory in their responses. Now when I address you, you will all answer 'Yes Professor Umbridge' or 'No Professor Umbridge' or so on, do you understand?”

“Yes Professor Umbridge.” Gemini simpered sarcastically.

She was drowned out by the rest of the class answering more politely.

Professor Umbridge beamed at them, “Well done. Now welcome to my Defence Against the dark arts class! I understand that you have not had the best of experiences, with a few different teachers, some of whom seem to be a little inappropriate.”

There was no objection from the class.

“I think you will find my teaching, Ministry approved teaching I should say, will help you understand the fundamental basics of Defensive theory much better.” Umbridge smiled, “So, do you all have a copy of 'Basic Defensive Theory' by Jaenderson Bagklin?”

“Yes Professor Umbridge.”

“Excellent. Now I would like you all to pull out your books and read chapter one, starting on page two. Feel free to take notes but there will be no need to talk.” Umbridge instructed them, sitting down behind her desk.

Gemini pulled the book out and opened it. It seemed possibly the most boring book that Gemini had ever read. It was clear Bagklin thought that there was never any need for any sort of attacking spells, let alone any information on how to cast them; Gemini soon lost interest.

She glanced over to Rodolphus who was smiling and passing a note to the blonde muggle born in Hufflepuff. Gemini poked him hard in the ribs.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?” Gemini hissed, “What is in that note?”

Rodolphus ignored her.

“At least Lovegood is pure-blood, not some filthy mudblood.” Gemini said, trying her best to keep her voice down.

“Who I send notes to is none of your business.” Rodolphus said, shrugging her arm off, “Now read your book.”

“I did say, there would be no need to talk.” Umbridge repeated.

Gemini ignored her, most of the class had given up on reading the book and were now either talking to their neighbour or passing around folded notes.

“It is my business if you go around embarrassing our family!” Gemini snapped.

Umbridge sighed, “Miss Lestrange? Am I correct that that's your name?”

Gemini nodded, “Yes. Gemini Lestrange.”

Umbridge gave a sickly sweet smile, “Yes, of course. How like your parents you look. Did you have a question about the book?”

Gemini shifted slightly, “No, Professor Umbridge. I think the book makes it’s views perfectly clear.”

Professor Umbridge smiled, “Well then, we don't need to be talking, do we?”

Gemini returned the sickly sweet smile and dramatically held up her book. She used the cover of the book to scribble a note to Rodolphus, about how stupid he was being and would he please stop staring at the ugly, pathetic, mudblood.

Rodolphus screwed the note up and chucked it into her bag without even reading it.

“We are under a lot of pressure right now.” Gemini hissed, “How do you think it's going to look if you are caught with a mudblood?” she whispered.

Rodolphus glared at her, “No. Mater and Sir are under a lot of pressure. Do you really think they care about you? Do you think _he_ does? Of course not, you're nothing but a pathetic little child that everyone wishes would stop taking herself so bloody seriously.”

“How dare you talk to me that way!” Gemini snapped, still keeping her voice as quiet as possible, “I've met him! They thought I was-”

“Miss Lestrange.” Professor Umbridge said, sighing, “Stand up please.”

Gemini kicked her chair back and stood, “Yes. Professor Umbridge.”

“I think I can hear you talking again, you need to be reading your book now, quietly.” Professor Umbridge said.

Gemini rolled her eyes, her head too full to think before she spoke, “Of for goodness sake, no one cares about your stupid book. It was written by the biggest coward out there!” she took a deep breath, “Professor.”

Umbridge looked icily at her, “Well, thank you for that enlightening opinion, Miss Lestrange. I will see you in detention I think.”

Gemini dug her nails into her palms, “Yes, Professor Umbridge.”

Professor Umbridge dug out a bright pink diary and opened the pages slowly, “Well I’m seeing Mr Potter at five this evening so you can stay after school today.”

“Whatever you say.” Gemini hissed, “Professor.”

Umbridge glared down at her, “And would you, please, move into the corner of the room. You can stand there, as to not disrupt the rest of the class with your unpopular views any further.”

Gemini took a deep breath, trying to ignore the sounds of people talking about her in her head. She stared at the corner of the room, the horrible off pink paint and waited.

Her legs where aching by the time the bell rang, standing for over an hour hadn't made her temper any better; she could feel herself bubbling in rage. The rest of the class left without saying a word to her, she waited.

Gemini risked a look at the clock, it was just passed four, over half an hour since the lesson had ended and Professor Umbridge was still leaving her there, just standing.

“Into my office dear.” Professor Umbridge said.

Gemini turned, grateful to be able to move her legs at least a little and walked to the office. It was painted even more brightly pink in there, the walls covered in ornamental cat plates.

“Take a seat dear.” Umbridge said kindly.

Gemini sat down, and carefully placed her hands folded on the table, “I'm very sorry for the way I acted in class, there has been… a lot, going on lately.”

Umbridge smiled down at her, “I'm sure there has my dear, and I’m glad you have apologised, hopefully that means this won’t take to long!” she said kindly, patting Gemini on the shoulder, “Now, you will be writing some lines for me today.”

Gemini nodded and reached for her bag.

“Oh no, you wont need your quill, just some parchment.” Umbridge said, placing an abnormally fine quill in front of Gemini.

“What about ink? Professor Umbridge?” Gemini asked, forcing herself to sound as sweet as possible, even fluttering her eyelashes.

“Oh you wont need any ink.” Umbridge said.

Gemini rolled her eyes behind Umbridge's back and smiled, “What would you like me to write?”

“I will not disrupt my classes.” Umbridge told her.

Gemini gritted her teeth, not the most original but never mind. She pulled the wad of parchment towards her and started to write. There was quickly an itching that turned into pain on her arm.

Gemini yanked her sleeve up and saw the words carving themselves into her skin before disappearing, leaving the skin just a little red.

“Again, please Miss Lestrange.” Umbridge smiled.

Gemini wrote out the line again, and once again it was carved into her arm.

“What is this?” Gemini asked.

Umbridge smiled sweetly at her, “Please continue, Miss Lestrange.”

Gemini glared at her, she wasn't about to carry on carving those stupid words into her arm just because some crazy, or stupid (possibly both) teacher ordered her too.

Gemini stood up, slamming her free hand onto the table and grasping the quill firmly in her other hand, digging the point of it so hard it went through several layers of parchment. She dragged it round the page, drawing out the skull with a snake, twisting from its mouth that made up the Dark Mark.

Blood poured from Gemini's arm as the dark mark was carved deeply into her skin and Umbridge looked on in horror.

“What's wrong, Professor Umbridge?” Gemini asked sweetly, breathing deeply from the pain of her bleeding arm.

“You… you...” Umbridge gasped, staring down at the dark mark on her desk.

“Don't you like it?” Gemini asked sweetly, “I thought it was so much prettier than your words.”

“Get out.” Umbridge said quickly.

Umbridge snatched the wad of parchment and threw it into the fire, her heart beating frantically as her panic grew. Gemini smiled at her, narrowing her eyes.

Gemini picked up a neat, white lacy doily and used it to soak up the blood, “I wouldn't want to bleed everywhere and show everyone what you did.” she said, throwing the blood soaked fabric into the fire, “What would people say?”

Umbridge said nothing, she didn't know what to say; he was simply horrified.

She picked up her bag and left the room without another word. Harry was just about to knock on the door when Gemini opened it.

“Oh… what are you doing here?” Harry asked.

Gemini ignored him, pushing her way passed. Harry shook his head, she was the most insufferable girl sometimes.

Professor Umbridge was in her office, Harry was horrified to see the amount of strange cat plates that lined the walls.

“I'm here for my detention, Professor.” Harry said, “Professor?”

Umbridge looked at him, struggling to keep her fake smile on her face, she looked very shaken.

“Mr Potter, I’m not feeling very well, you may preform your detention in your own time. Four hundred lines of 'I will not tell lies'. Do you understand?” Umbridge said quickly.

Harry nodded, gritting his teeth over the fact she was still insisting he was telling lies, “Yes Professor.”

“On my desk by tomorrow morning.” Umbridge said, opening the door and shooing him out.

Harry left, hearing the door lock behind him.

“Well, that was weird.” he muttered to himself, walking back to the Slytherin common room.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Daphne looked up from her homework when she heard the door to the common room open.

“Harry!” she called, waving him over, “You're back early.”

Harry wandered over and sat down with them.

“How did it go?” Draco asked.

Harry shrugged, “Well it sort of… didn't, I guess?” he leaned closer to them, thankfully Corvus was the only Lestrange around, “I saw Gemini coming out of there and Umbridge looked really shocked. She just told me to write lines for tomorrow, didn't even want me to stay.”

“That's odd.” Pansy agreed, putting her quill down and shuffling closer.

Harry nodded, “Did she come back here? Gemini I mean.”

Draco, Daphne and Pansy all shook their heads.

“We've been sitting here the whole time, and no, we've not seen her.” Draco said.

Harry shook his head slightly, there wasn't much more to say. He pulled out a piece of parchment and started to write his lines, four hundred was a lot of lines and by the time he'd finished those and managed a chunk of his homework his hand was aching painfully.

Gemini did arrive back at the common room, a little after nine o'clock, and went straight to her dorm. Harry decided that she must have just been a little madam, talked back to Umbridge or something. Possibly even threatening to tell her parents that Umbridge had forced her into detention; either way it couldn't be anything to worry about.

The next morning Harry was surprised to see Hermione flop down on the bench next to him.

“Good morning.” Harry smiled, “Toast?”

Hermione shook her head, “No, I’ve already eaten. I wanted to show you this.”

She pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet and smoothed it out on the table.

“Why are you still reading that?” Harry asked, wrinkling his nose.

“I want to know what it says, work out what angle they're playing.” Hermione shrugged, “And I’m glad that I did, there's something in it today.”

She pointed to a small, inch high article, tucked at the bottom of the page. Harry lent over so he could read it.

“ **TRESPASS AT MINISTRY”**

“ **Stugis Podmore, 38, of number two, Laburnum Gardens, Clapham, has appeared in front of the Wizengamot charged with trespass and attempted robbery at the Ministry of Magic on 31** **st** **August. Podmore was arrested by Ministry of Magic watchwizard Eric Munch, who found him attempting to force his way through a top-security door at one o'clock in the morning. Podmore who refused to speak in his own defence, was convicted on both charges and sentenced to six months in Azkaban.”**

“I know that name.” Harry whispered, “Stugis Podmore, I met him over the holidays; he's a member of the Order.”

“Are you sure?” Daphne asked.

Harry nodded, “Yeah- yes I’m sure.”

“So what was he doing at the Ministry?” Hermione said.

“Hem hem.”

Harry turned around to see Professor Umbridge standing behind them.

“Can we help you, Professor Umbridge?” Daphne asked.

“I might have been mistaken but I believe that Miss Granger is in Gryffindor house? Not Slytherin.” Professor Umbridge said, in her fake girly voice.

Hermione nodded, “Yes, I am Professor, Gryffindor Prefect in fact.”

“Then why are you sitting at the wrong table?” Professor Umbridge whispered condescendingly.

“I was just showing Harry-” Hermione said.

“Just showing him that Madam Malkin's robes are having a sale; Harry was just saying the other day he could do with some new robes after Christmas, might as well send his mother to get them now and save a few galleons.” Pansy smiled sweetly.

Professor Umbridge looked between them, clearly unimpressed with their story, “Well, I think Harry's new robes can wait. It's hardly appropriate for students to be sitting at the incorrect tables, don't you think?”

Hermione picked up and paper and nodded, “I was just about to go back to Gryffindor table anyway.”

“Very good.” Umbridge beamed, “Enjoy your breakfast.”

Harry glared at her back, “Evil cow.” he hissed.

“We're going to have to be even more careful from now on, make sure Hermione and Neville aren't seen with us too often.” Draco sighed, “The last thing we want is to get them into trouble.”

Harry nodded, “It's me; the Ministry wants me to be alone, afraid I'm going to betray them or something stupid.”

“You know, six months in Azkaban is a long time for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Daphne mused.

“Well, they said he was trying to get through a door, didn't they?” Harry said, “So it's whatever is behind the door, that's what’s worth six months in Azkaban.”

“But Podmore is meant to be on our side,” Daphne said, “If he's a member of the Order.”

“In the last war,” Draco whispered, leaning closer, “a lot of people claimed to be under the influence of the Imperious curse. A lot of them were just making it up of course but there were those that were really forced to do as they were told.”

“Rodolphus.” Harry said, a little louder than he'd meant too, “He was at the Ministry the day of my trial, I bet he took the chance to curse Podmore then.”

Daphne shook her head, “We don't know that. Don't do anything rash, Harry, we're all being watched right now.”

Harry sighed and nodded, he knew she was right. Umbridge was back at the staff table, watching him with her beady little eyes. He felt a wave of hate come over him, stronger than anything he'd ever felt before.

“Harry?” Daphne asked, reaching over for his hand, “Are you all right?”

Harry snapped back to focus, “Yeah, yeah sorry.”

Pansy smiled, “Eat up Harry. You'll be starving by lunch otherwise.”

“We need to find a way to get a message to Hermione and Neville when we need to talk to them.” Draco mused, “I think Gryffindor are practising Quidditch today, we could go watch, I think Neville was hoping to be there, Thomas made the team.”

Harry shook his head, “No, it gives Umbridge a chance to have another dig at us. She'd just accuse us of trying to heckle them or something.” he was itching to be able to fly again;Slytherin hadn't yet had a practice, their team was mostly intact from last year. He still hadn't had the chance to ride his Firebolt, it was sitting in the Slytherin changing rooms, still all neat and shiny. It was going to be so fast, faster than any other brooms in the school.

Harry wandered down to the spot near the lake, books in hand with his friends. Hermione was fuming over Professor Umbridge kicking her off the Slytherin table at breakfast.

“I have an idea.” she said, after a while looking through several complicated books, “If I could make some sort of duplicating spell or… something that would give us a sign, we could meet here to talk.”

“Well, I vote no for snake and skull tattoos.” Pansy laughed, “What are you reading?”

Hermione shrugged, “Every book I could find in the library that covers mass communication.”

“Surely it shouldn't be too difficult?” Draco said, also turning away from his homework, “I mean, all you need is the same duplication spell that's on your homework diary and homework planner.”

Hermione shook her head, “The issue isn't with the spell, as you say that's fairly simple, it's trying to get around the distance as well as the Hogwarts wards. Ideally we would like it to work even if one of us is at school and the other is at Hogsmead.”

“You'll get there.” Harry grinned, “And in the mean time we can send each other owls, not ideal but could be worse.”

“Well don't send Hedwig.” Neville pointed out, “Or any of ours, actually, they could be recognised. We'd better use school owls for now.”

“Again not ideal.” Hermione agreed.

Harry was quite happy sprawled on the grass, it was still warm and sunny outside, it wouldn't be so enjoyable having to be stuck outside to talk to one another when the snow hit and winter brought with it bitingly cold winds.

The giant squid was lounging happily in the water, occasionally splashing water and a group of giggling first years who were playing in the water further up the bank.

Everything would have been in line for a perfect Saturday if not for the fact Hagrid's hut was still shut up and empty. Not once had the curtains been opened or smoke from the chimney. Harry was worried about him, it seemed odd he'd been away for so long without a word.

“Harry, weren't you meant to hand this into Professor Umbridge?” Daphne asked, picking up his lines.

Harry grimaced, “Bugger, I’d forgotten about that. I’ll go give them in now.”

He picked up the sheets of parchment and slowly walked into the school. It felt rather ironic as the cold shadow of the castle covered him, stealing him from the sunshine outside.

It wasn't a long walk to Professor Umbridge's office where he knocked and waited patiently. The door swung open.

“Come in.” Professor Umbridge called out, her voice grating on Harry's nerves.

Harry took a few steps forward, into the pink covered office and closed the door, “Good morning, Professor Umbridge. I brought the lines you asked me for.”

Umbridge smiled at him, her ugly pink cardigan draped over her shoulders and sipping a cup of tea out of an obscenely flowery cup and saucer.

“Thank you Mr Potter.” Umbridge said, patting a space on her organised desk for him to put them down. She waved her wand over them, it glowed green for a second, “Just making sure there was no cheating involved. I assume that the lesson sunk in?”

Harry clenched his fists, “Yes, Professor.”

“Good.” Professor Umbridge smiled, “Now, if I find you disrupting my class in future, I will have to give you a more sever punishment.”

Harry nodded and forced a smile onto his face, “Of course, Professor.”

“Now, you may leave.” Professor Umbridge said, waving her wand and the door flew open, “Well done for completing your punishment.”

Harry didn't say anything but left the room quickly, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He hadn't been lying and she knew it, and he knew she knew it. Severus was right though, they had to keep their heads down, make sure that they weren't going to get themselves any more attention.

Harry shook his head, determined to enjoy the weekend. He and his friends had survived their first week, they'd even managed to keep up with the huge level of homework that they had been given, even if some of it was not done to the best of their abilities.

He wondered back out to his friends.

“She took them, said 'well done'.” Harry hissed, flopping down on the grass, “Gods she is so sickly sweet it makes my teeth hurt.”

Pansy snorted a laugh, “Yeah she does lay it on a little thick.”

“The book she's using is useless.” Hermione huffed, “I mean, in our O.W.L year as well? I’m so frustrated with it already.”

Harry shrugged, “Well thankfully we've already learnt a lot of the practical stuff from other teachers. It should be enough to get us through our exams.”

“We shouldn't have to worry about it though.” Daphne huffed.

“Not saying that we should.” Harry said, holding his hands up in a surrender, “I still think it's my fault she's here. The Ministry is pissed at me and Dumbledore, that's why they've sent in a little spy.”

“What I don't understand,” Draco said carefully, “is why did we end up with Professor Umbridge when Professor Snape has always wanted the job? I mean Quirrell was boring but “meh”, apart from the whole You-know-who in the back of his head, Lockhart was a joke, Remus was brilliant but Dumbledore barely put up a fight to get him to stay, Moody was… well evil in the end and no one noticed he wasn't himself for a year and now we've got Professor Learn-Everything-From-A-Book. It just doesn't make any sense.”

Harry nodded, it was something he'd thought about himself. Something that, as Draco said, made no sense. Harry knew that Severus still wanted to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts and he was getting more and more frustrated with the attitude everyone seemed to have, that Dumbledore had some wonderful master plan that he just forgot to tell everyone else about.

Harry sat up and shook himself slightly; he suddenly felt very cold, even in the bright sunshine.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Harry flopped down at the Slytherin table for breakfast and was surprised when an over excited owl dropped down in front of him. It had only a short note attached,

“Lakeside, now.” Harry read it out quietly, “I'm assuming it's from Hermione.”

Draco nodded, staring longingly at the large dish of porridge, “Bacon butties for breakfast again then.”

Pansy and Daphne nodded, wrapping some croissants and toast up for themselves before heading out.

“Hem hem. And where are you four going?” Professor Umbridge asked, walking up behind them.

“We were going to eat breakfast outside today.” Pansy said, “We often do when we have good weather.”

Professor Umbridge looked along the line of them, “I don't think that's appropriate. Breakfast is an indoor meal.”

“There is a school rule about breakfast being eaten inside?” Draco asked innocently.

Professor Umbridge narrowed her beady little eyes, “No… enjoy your breakfast.” she turned and walked away, her heels tapping on the stone floor.

“Evil toad.” Pansy hissed once they were out of the castle.

Hermione and Neville were already sitting down by the lake, and waved them over. Harry, Draco, Pansy and Daphne sat down with them.

“Have you seen this?” Hermione said, handing over today's copy of the Daily Prophet.

Harry took it and frowned at the large picture of Umbridge on the front page. He and his friends scanned over the pages, more and more concerned with each line.

_Dear Readers,_

_The Ministry, after years of our concerns about Hogwarts School, have acted and acted most wonderfully!_

_New professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts is one Ms. Dolores Jane Umbridge, a Ministry worker! Finally a respectable teacher our children deserve! She has also been given the position of Hogwarts High Inquisitor, meaning she is there to “keep an eye on the place” and “make sure everything runs smoothly” for our children in their studies, as one Mr. Percy Weasley told me in an exclusive interview. “Professor Umbridge, as she now is, has been given the honour of High Inquisitor, which she will be reporting her findings back to the Minister himself, Mr. Fudge. I must say that this is a perfect fit, many will agree with me, and while she has no power over what happens at Hogwarts school, the Ministry feels it can no longer trust Professor Dumbledore to act appropriately, given his recent claims.” Mr. Weasley went on to say._

_Parents have been flooding in with the praise also, including one Mrs. Goyle saying, “Dolores Umbridge is a wonderful person, everyone loves her! I could not be happier to know my boy will be safe while doing his O.W.Ls this year with Professor Umbridge watching over them all. She is a lovely, kind, sweet woman who will stop at nothing to do what is best for the next generations.”_

_Of course, faithful readers, I have not been blind sided by this amazing appointment of position. I have asked myself the same question; why would Hogwarts need a “high inquisitor”? Well, readers, I’m sure you already know! Dumbledore seems to have completely lost the plot, excusing the muggle term. From my talk with Mr. Weasley, it seems that Albus Dumbledore is claiming preposterous things, lies that cannot be believed, not only because they are untrue but because of how ridiculous they are! I will not write what he is claiming, as I do not want to put falsehoods into your head. I respect my place of influence too much to do so to you! Clearly, Dumbledore does not though. From speaking to Mr. Weasley, who I should point out has close personal connections to Minister Fudge himself, I can gather that many people are concerned over Dumbledore’s health and mindset. Mr. Weasley even said “It’s nothing to be concerned with yet, however after such events happening in the last few years, we would like to get a jump on things in the hope to protect the children before anything bad happens.” Mr. Weasley has several siblings attending Hogwarts this year._

_My concerns for the youngsters have always been fuelled by you, dear readers, and I can now say it’s come to an end! With Professor Umbridge there, as High Inquisitor, nothing will escape her watchful eye! You can guarantee that trouble makers, and those wishing to disturb the peace, will be punished accordingly. Finally! The relief floods me, readers, floods me! I tried to talk with Professor Umbridge, who politely declined to speak, saying “her attention is needed in the school” and she “doesn’t wish for a fuss to be made of (her) new appointment as the focus should be kept on the children’s education and safety”. Even when asked for comments, she was polite and courteous, and it was clear her focus was on the children and not herself. This is who we have been waiting for, for so long, readers, someone who cares for the children above her position and links. She did let slip she would be sitting in on some lessons to “get a lay of the land” and “find out what is working well”. The results of her findings will be eagerly awaited!_

_We must trust in her, readers, as if we do not it will cause others to doubt. I tell you now, I have no doubt in this wonderful woman, or the Ministry that appointed her as High Inquisitor! And neither should you, readers! Spread the word! Hogwarts is finally safe, safe from outside and inside influences who wish to destroy the peace and organisation we finally have! We must continue to be united behind this wonderful news, and not let others who believe the mad ramblings of Dumbledore and others destroy this wonderful world we live in._

_Signing off,_

_Alissa Ward_

“I don't believe it.” Draco said, “They're trying to make her Headmistress in all but name.”

“I think it's more than that.” Neville sighed, “For all Dumbledore has power to inspect teachers and stuff, there'd be an outcry if he actually did. Umbridge will though, the Ministry will make sure she gets rid of as many teachers that don't stand with the Ministry as possible.”

Harry took several seep breaths, “She's going to go after Dad.”

Hermione nodded, “Yes. Almost certainly.”

“You have to stay away from him Harry, even more than you already are. Make sure that he treats you like nothing more than a normal student.” Daphne told him.

“I just don't know how.” Harry sighed, “He's already told me that Umbridge was getting twitchy about him having a step son in the school.”

“And she stopped us.” Pansy pointed out, “On our way out of the hall. We need a way to contact each other, that's not always at breakfast.”

“I have an idea of that.” Daphne smiled, “I made this.”

She pulled out a fine golden thread.

“What is it?” Hermione asked.

“It's a tracking spell, bound to a fine thread. Mama and Papa use it to track the cats at home.” Daphne explained.

“But we'll know where we are.” Neville pointed out, “We just wont be able to talk to each other.”

“An unforeseen side effect of the tracking spell is it warms the thread slightly, not enough to burn, it just gets warm.” Daphne told them, “I think, if we could braid them into a bracelet or anklet, along with a hair from each of us, it would trigger the spell and we'd all be able to feel it.”

“That's a good idea.” Hermione said, cheering up a little.

“It's not perfect.” Daphne shrugged, “But I figure Pansy and I wear anklets anyway so it wouldn't look strange, plus bracelets can be hidden under robes. It also doesn't let us make a time or date for us to let anyone else know so we'll just have to try and pop back here as often as we can.”

“I do have a few ideas about that, but I have to do a little more research before it's ready to try and make anything from my idea.” Hermione said, “Unfortunately I think it's going to get even more difficult to do any research in the restricted section. I can see if McGonagall will give me a pass.”

“She's back.” Draco said, looking over to where a distinctly pink figure was watching them.

“We'll manage.” Pansy said, standing up, “But I think for now we should head inside and get to class. Before anyone comes over to ask what we're up to and we're forced to lie.”

The others nodded; the last thing they needed was giving Umbridge any excuse to give them even more attention.

“Harry!” Miles Bletchley called, “Daphne, Draco, first practice is this Wednesday. 7 o'clock.”

“We'll be there.” Daphne called back.

Harry grinned, “Well at least we know there'll be somewhere Umbridge can't get us. I think she's too short for broom riding, you know. She'd need a kiddies broom.”

Draco snorted a laugh and pushed open the door to the Potions room, taking his seat. Hermione put her bag down with Pansy and looked at it.

“Damn.” Hermione said, “I shouldn't sit here should I?”

“It's fine.” Pansy said, “Umbridge isn't inspecting this class.”

Hermione shook her head, “It's fine. I’ll sit with Neville.”

Harry watched her walk away and felt like smacking the desk, “I hate this.” he hissed.

“Calm down Harry.” Draco told him.

Harry took several deep breaths and nodded, “Yeah, sorry. I don't know what came over me.”

Pansy and Daphne frowned at him but said no more as Severus had just put up the instructions for that days Potion.

Harry was determined to get his potion right this time and made sure he read over the instructions several times before he even added the half a pint of water to his cauldron. By the end of the lesson his potion was looking good, it wasn't quite the same shade of turquoise that Draco's was, a little cloudier maybe but not the bright red or pink that Crabbe and Goyle's were.

“I have here your results from the last potion and recent homework. I have marked them as I would your O.W.L. I expect you all to work hard and try to improve as apart from a few, your results have been dismal.” Professor Snape said, handing out the sheets of paper.

Harry looked at his and sighed, a large A was written in red ink in the top corner of the page with a small note that read ' _Must try harder, this was only one mark off being a Poor'_

Harry didn't know what to say. He had tried, what would people think if the Potion Master's son failed Potions? He shook his head and stuffed the marked homework into his bag. He would go over it later and see where he'd gone wrong. There was still a lot of time until the O.W.Ls after all.

It was Divination next, one of the few subjects that Harry was sure he was going to fail and didn't really care about. He hoped his class work would be enough to get him a passing grade, or only a minor fail because there was no way he was going to be able to blag his way through the exam.

He pulled himself up through the trap door and felt his blood run cold, Umbridge was there already. No chance of him sneaking to the back to go unseen for the lesson. He forced a smile to face and walked over to his usual table with Ron, Daphne and Pansy.

“Wonder what she's doing here?” Ron mumbled.

“She's inspecting all the lessons. It was in the paper this morning.” Pansy said, taking the copy of 'The Dream Oracle' the Professor Trelawney was handing out.

Professor Umbridge waited until all of the students had text books before stepping forward and making her annoying little coughing noise.

“Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney.” Professor Umbridge said, “You received my note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?”

Professor Trelawney didn't say anything but gave a sharp nod, pulling her shawl a little tighter around her shoulders.

Professor Umbridge smiled widely and pulled the nearest armchair to the front of the class, making a loud noise as she did so, the chair legs scrapping across the rugs. She sat down, wiggling a little to make sure she was comfortable before reaching into her flower covered bag and pulling out a clip board, looking expectantly at Professor Trelawney to start the class.

“We shall be continuing our study of prophetic dreams today,” said Professor Trelawney, clearly rattled and uncomfortable with Umbridge's presence, “Divide into pairs, please, and interpret each other's latest night time visions with the aid of the 'Oracle'.”

Harry turned to face Ron and opened his book, “So, go on then.”

“I did it last time, what's your dream?” Ron said, remembering Harry's previous, and a little to close to home, predictions.

In truth Harry couldn't remember; his dream journal was looking rather blank and he'd already agreed with himself that he wasn't going to write anything down that could be considered 'weird' but that had left him without anything to write at all.

“I was in Transfiguration and McGonagall turned my water glass into a pond and tried to drown me in it.” Harry said quickly.

Ron snorted, “Yeah, she is a bit like that.” he opened his book and started to flick through the pages.

Harry waited patiently, forcing himself not to keep glaring over at Umbridge. Pansy and Daphne were deep in discussion, cross referencing over several pages; either one of them had hand an interesting dream or they were doing a very good impression of pretending to work while talking about something else. Harry suspected the latter.

“Ok, we've got to add your age and the date you had the dream to the number of letters in the subject… would that be pond, Transfiguration or drowning?” Ron asked.

Harry shrugged, “Unlikely to be pond. I’d go with drowning, so eight.”

He glanced behind him, Professor Trelawney was trying to talk to two Gryffindors about their dream diaries, Professor Umbridge hovering just behind her taking a lot of notes.

“What night did you have this dream?” Ron asked.

“What? Oh umm, last night.” Harry said, trying to focus again while also listening into what Professor Umbridge was saying.

“Now, you've been in this post how long, exactly?” Umbridge asked.

Professor Trelawney pulled her shawls even tighter around her shoulders, clearly annoyed at being forced to submit to such an inspection, “Nearly sixteen years.”

“Quite a period.” Umbridge smiled, making a note, “So it was Professor Dumbledore who appointed you?”

“Yes.” Professor Trelawney said sharply.

“I believe you are the great-great-granddaughter of the well known and celebrated seer, Cassandra Trelawney?” Umbridge asked.

Professor Trelawney held her head a littler higher, “Yes, I am.”

“But I think,” Umbridge did her annoying, fake giggle which made Trelawney frown slightly, “correct me if I'm wrong, that you are the first in your family since Cassandra to have the second sight?” Umbridge asked, smiling widely.

“These things often skip… er… three generation.” Professor Trelawney said dismissively.

“Of course.” Umbridge said with sickly sweetness, “Well would you, please, predict something for me?”

Professor Trelawney stiffened, “I don't understand you?” she snapped.

“I'd like you… to make… a prediction… for me.” Professor Umbridge said clearly, like she was talking to someone who was stupid.

Harry looked around, he was not the only one who had been listening in, now abandoning their work to see what happened next.

“The inner eye does not see upon command!” Professor Trelawney said, scandalised.

“I see.” Umbridge said softly, still smiling.

“I… _wait_!” Trelawney said suddenly, in another attempt at an ethereal voice, although the fact she was shaking in anger somewhat ruined the effect, “I am afraid… I am afraid that you are in grave danger!”

There was a pause, Professor Umbridge looking at her with raised eyebrows, “Right.” she said, scribbling on her clipboard, “If that's really the best you can do…”

She turned away, leaving the classroom. Professor Trelawney seemed fixed to the spot, her chest rising and falling in anger.

Harry forced himself to look back to 'The Dream Oracle', avoiding Ron's eyes. They all new that Trelawney was an old fraud but that didn't stop Harry from feeling sorry for her, having to suffer being humiliated by Umbridge so much.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Harry stomped loudly into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and flopped into his seat. Draco sat next to him, hopefully putting his wand out on the desk. Professor Umbridge was already sitting at her desk, humming an annoyingly repetitive tune.

“Wands away.” she said pleasantly once everyone had sat down.

Draco, as well as several other students, let out sighs and tucked their wands back into their bags.

“As we finished Chapter One during the last lesson, I would like you all to turn to page nineteen today, and begin 'Chapter Two, Common Defensive Theories and their Derivation'. Once again, there will be no need to talk.” Professor Umbridge smiled.

Harry sighed. He wondered what she was going to make them read once they'd finished the book, it was fairly long but not long enough for them to read all year. He glanced over and saw that Hermione's book was once again closed and her hand in the air.

Professor Umbridge could clearly see her as well, and sighed. Rather than trying to ignore Hermione this time she walked over and bent down, whispering so that no one else could hear them.

“What is it _this_ time, Miss Granger?”

Hermione had no desire, however, to stay quiet and not interrupt the class, “I've already read Chapter Two Professor Umbridge.”

“Well then, you may proceed to Chapter Three.” Umbridge told her, moving away.

“I've read that too, Professor.” Hermione called after her, “In fact I’ve read the whole book.”

Professor Umbridge blinked, her smiled faltering for a second, “Well, then. What does Slinkhard say about counter jinxes in Chapter Fifteen?”

Hermione sat up a little straighter. Harry smirked, Hermione was good at memorising, she always had been, she was the last student you wanted to go up against like this.

“He say that 'counter jinx' is just a name people give their jinxes when they want to make them sound more acceptable.” Hermione said clearly.

Harry knew from the impressed look on Umbridge's face that Hermione was, word for word, correct.

“But I disagree.” Hermione continued.

Umbridge let out a little giggle of disbelief, her eyebrows raising even higher on her face, “You… disagree?”

“Yes I do.” said Hermione, “Mr Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does he? Therefore his views are shaped by his dislike, they're not impartial. I, however, think they can be very useful when they are used in a defensive manor.”

Professor Umbridge straightened herself up, “Oh do you?” she was clearly annoyed by Hermione's forwardness, “Well, I’m afraid it is Mr Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matter in this classroom, Miss Granger.”

“But-” Hermione started.

“That is...” Umbridge began, before turning to face Daphne, who coughed loudly, “Yes Miss Greengrass?”

“Well I would just like to join in this _theoretical_ discussion.” Daphne smiled, “You see I think that counter jinxes are also incorrectly named, however I believe they are very useful and that they should be used in the appropriate circumstances, even if that does mean 'shooting first'”

“You… you believe there is a need to initiate the spell exchange?” Umbridge spluttered in disbelief.

Daphne nodded, “Of course. I believe that part of the Auror training course is to learn when to shoot first, is it not?”

Umbridge forced a smiled, “But there are no Aurors in my classroom.”

“But we might be,” Harry joined in, “When we're older. I agree that this is a very important _theoretical_ discussion.”

Draco nudged him in the ribs, and gave him a small shake of the head, telling him not to join in. Harry ignored him, there was just something about Umbridge that made his blood boil.

“Well, I think that is enough.” Umbridge said firmly, raising her hand to Daphne when she started to speak again, “Miss Granger, Miss Greengrass, Mr Potter I’m afraid I’m going to have to take five points from each of your houses.”

“What for?” Neville asked, huffing loudly.

“For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions.” Professor Umbridge said, as though it was perfectly obvious, “I am here to teach you using a _Ministry-approved_ method that does not include letting children giving their uneducated opinions on subjects they know very little about, hence why they need to take this class. It seems you had a little more leeway from your previous teachers, who were clearly very unsuitable as teachers. With the exception of Professor Quirrell, who at least seemed to steer you towards a more theoretical understanding of the subject.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Yes, Quirrell was a brilliant teacher, apart from the fact he had Lord Voldemort sticking out the back of his head!”

Draco snorted a laugh as the room fell silent. Umbridge glared at him, breathing heavily.

“That is an inappropriate thing to say in my classroom, Mr Potter, in any classroom.” Umbridge said calmly, “I will see you in my office this evening at six o'clock for detention.”

Harry dug his nails into his palms and glared at her, “Of course, Professor.” he spat.

“Now I would like you all to turn back to your books for the remainder of the lesson, there will be no more interruptions. Miss Granger, reread Chapter Two, you clearly haven't actually learnt anything from the material.”

Harry, more than a little irritated, waited outside Professor Umbridge's office, watching the hand on his watch tick by. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of him being even a minute late, but he also wasn't going to be early and spend any more time with her than he needed to.

As the hand ticked to six, he knocked, calmly, on the door. It opened slightly, even through the crack Harry could see the pinkness leaking into the corridor.

“Come in, Mr Potter.” Umbridge called.

Harry pushed the door open and walked inside, closing the door behind him. He took the seat that Umbridge offered him and placed his clasped hands gently on the table.

“You'll be doing some more lines for me today Mr Potter.” Umbridge said pleasantly.

Harry forced himself not to roll his eyes; it was fine, at least he could just get them over and done with quickly and forget about it. He reached into his bag and pulled out his pad of parchment.

“You will be using my quill today, Mr Potter. It seems the last lot didn't sink in enough.” Umbridge said, handing over an unusually fine quill.

Harry took it, “Any particular ink colour?” he said, trying not to sound to sarcastic.

Umbridge smiled broadly, like a toad that had spotted a large, juicy fly, “Oh, you don't need any ink.”

Harry wondered if she was going to make him write the words over and over again without any evidence that he'd done anything all evening.

“What would you like me to write?” Harry mumbled.

“Same as before, Mr Potter. 'I must not tell lies'.” Umbridge smiled.

Harry gritted his teeth, “Which 'lie' are we talking about?” he hissed under his breath.

Professor Umbridge either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him and sat down behind her desk, sipping her tea.

Harry picked up the quill and started to write out 'I must not tell lies'. He could feel the back of his hand itch, he looked down in horror as the words carved themselves into the back of his hand before vanishing.

“What the hell?!” Harry spat, throwing the quill across the table.

“Now, now Mr Potter, that is not appropriate language for my office.” Professor Umbridge sighed patronisingly, “Please continue with your punishment.”

Harry looked at her like she was insane, “You mean continue to carve into my own skin? Is this ‘Ministry-approved’?”

Umbridge's smile faltered, “Mr Potter, if you refuse to continue your detention I will be forced to report your behaviour to the Ministry and it would reflect very poorly on anyone who taught or teaches at the school that would have, any reason, to give you special treatment…”

Harry gritted his teeth, “And who would that be?” he wanted her to say it.

She smiled, “Well, your step-father is also your head of house, it must make it very difficult for him to think clearly when it comes to your behaviour, not to mention that ha… Professor Lupin was very close to your father before he died, and is still a good friend of your family's. Do you really want to be responsible for the Ministry having to have a close look at if they have been an… effect, on your terrible school record?”

Harry glared at her, “Well then… I’d better keep writing.”

He picked up the quill and forced his hand to keep writing, over and over again, the cuts getting deeper and deeper every time he wrote, even though he was pressing the quill as lightly as he could onto the parchment, and taking longer and longer to fade.

Harry's hand was bleeding heavily by the time Umbridge walked over and pulled it up from where he had it clutched on the desk, wrapped in his handkerchief.

“Well, I think the message could sink a little deeper.” Professor Umbridge said, wiping a little blood away, “I'll see you back here tomorrow evening, Mr Potter. Same time.”

Harry stood up and snatched his bag off the floor, leaving the room without a word. He stormed through the castle, pushing past several younger students who were still milling around the halls. Draco, Pansy and Daphne were sitting in the common room, waiting for him.

“Harry.” Pansy said, waving him over, “What on earth's wrong? You're as white as a sheet!”

Harry was trembling with anger, he didn't know if he should tell them what Umbridge had made him do or not. He sat down, keeping his hand tucked under his bag.

“What are you hiding?” Draco asked, not fooled for a moment, yanking Harry's hand onto the desk.

They looked at the slightly red tinged handkerchief, saying nothing. After a few moments, Daphne reached forward and took the handkerchief off Harry's hand, showing them all the words, still bleeding slightly on the back of his hand.

“What happened?” Pansy asked quietly.

Harry felt his blood boil again, he just wished they would stop staring at him, “Umbridge and her idea of detention.” he mumbled, snatching the handkerchief back from Daphne and wrapping his hand up again.

“She did that to you?” Draco asked in horror.

Harry shrugged, “Not exactly. She's got this quill thing. It doesn't need ink, writes it onto your skin somehow. This is about two hundred copies of 'I must not tell lies'.”

Daphne shook her head, “Well you can't wrap it up with that, it'll get infected or scar.” she said, she stood up and walked up to her dorm room, grabbing a first aid kit and heading back to where her friends were sitting.

“Thanks.” Harry mumbled.

“No problem.” Daphne smiled, “Although if the cow is willing to do this to her students, one of the ones with parents who will speak up, it might be worth behaving in class from now on. I'll send an owl to Hermione and Neville as well, give them the heads up.”

She took the handkerchief and threw it into the fire, wiping down his hand with a wipe that smelt strongly of sage and stung a little bit before wrapping a clean white bandage around the wound.

“I assume you're a little old for me to kiss it better?” Daphne grinned.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Watch it, Greengrass, another couple of years and that gets you a dirty answer.”

Daphne laughed and gave him a hug.

“I have to ask,” Draco said, after a few moments, “You said you wrote it out a couple of hundred times, why? Why didn't you… well, not. Why didn't you stop I mean?”

Harry sighed, “I did, after the first time told her I thought she was nuts but… she basically threatened Dad and Remus. She's already made it hard enough for Remus, pushing through every bit of anti-werewolf legislation that she can, the last thing he needs to be hauled into the Ministry for questioning because of me.”

“She said that? Just blurted it out like that?” Daphne asked.

Harry nodded, “Basically; said she would have to report it to the Ministry if I refused to complete my detention, and that would 'reflect badly' on anyone that could of encouraged my behaviour.”

“I knew she was an evil bitch but that is despicable, even for her.” Pansy said, shaking her head, “Making you do that to yourself.”

Harry nodded, “She was really shaken up last time, remember? She just sent me away to do my lines, with a normal quill.”

“I remember you moaning that your hand was cramping up, doesn't seem so bad now does it?” Draco snorted.

Harry rolled his eyes and grinned, “Yeah, remind me next time I moan about a teacher forcing me to write to much. Anyway, my point was Gemini was just coming out of the room, she'd had detention before me. I wonder what she did?”

“Well I assume you would of spotted the blood if she'd stabbed her or something.” Pansy shrugged.

Harry nodded, “Maybe she threatened her, said she'd rat her out to Voldemort or something?”

“I don't think so, while I wouldn't put that passed Gem, I don't think it would of rattled Umbridge. She doesn't believe that he's alive.” Draco pointed out, “It's not much of a threat, ‘I’ll moan at someone who's dead about you’.”

“Good point.” Harry said, “I just know that something went on, and there is no way Gemini just sat there carving some unimaginative line into her arm or hand or whatever.”

“It would be a little out of character for her.” Daphne agreed.

“I have to go back again tomorrow, yet more lines into the back of my hand.” Harry sighed.

“You're going to need to tell Bletchley you wont be able to make practice, he's not going to be happy.” Draco said, a little awkwardly, “Do you want someone to come with you?”

“I don't have practice.” Pansy offered.

Harry smiled but shook his head, “Thanks for the offer but we all know Umbridge isn't going to let anyone in there to keep me company while I suffer, I’ll just have to try being as good as possible and see if I can get out as soon as I can.”

“Are you going to tell your Father?” Pansy asked.

Harry shook his head, “No, I don't think so anyway. He'll be angry, really angry and I don't want to give Umbridge any more ammunition than she's already got. I’m not going to tell Mum either, she'd be here in a second to give Umbridge a taste of her own medicine.”

“Lily verse Umbridge, I think I would pay to see that.” Draco smirked.

Harry grinned, he was pretty sure he would as well. He was also pretty sure that there wouldn't be much left of Umbridge once his mother had finished with her.

They finished their homework for that evening before heading up to bed. Harry's hand was still stinging, it seemed to hurt more now he was tucked up in bed without any distraction.

He was glad he'd told his friends but it caused an ache in his heart when he thought about the fact he felt that he couldn't tell his parents. Between the Ministry and Voldemort he was feeling more and more cut off from the people around him.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Harry's hand was still sore the next afternoon as he walked down the grass slope to Care of Magical Creatures and having to write several pages of parchment of notes in History of Magic hadn't helped much either.

Harry wasn't surprised to see Hagrid was still gone, Professor Grubbly-Plank standing waiting for them instead. He was however dismayed to see Professor Umbridge, scribbling away on her pink clipboard.

“She was in Transfiguration as well.” Hermione said, walking over, “Professor McGonagall was not impressed.”

Harry grinned, “I'm sorry to have missed it.”

They walked over to where Professor Grubbly-Plank was trying to ignore Professor Umbridge.

“..don't know anything more about it than you do! Got an owl from Dumbledore, would I like a couple of weeks' teaching work? I accepted. That's as much as I know. Well, if you're all finished… shall I get started then?”

“Yes, yes please do.” Professor Umbridge smiled.

Umbridge wandered around the class, with some difficultly as she was wearing her small heeled shoes that kept catching in the grass, quizzing them on magical creatures she thought they should of learnt about. Harry allowed himself a small smile, most of the students were doing Hagrid proud. There were a couple of course, Tracy was pretending that she didn't know what anything was but it would be difficult for even Umbridge to twist that round on Hagrid when everyone else knew what was going on.

Harry pretended to be very busy with his plan for Bowtruckle rehabilitation when Professor Umbridge walked passed. Thankfully she left them alone.

“Overall, how do you, as a temporary member of staff, an objective outsider you might say, find Hogwarts? Do you feel you receive enough support from the school management?” Professor Umbridge asked, leadingly.

“Oh, yes. Dumbledore's excellent.” Professor Grubbly-Plank said honestly, “Yes, I’m very happy with the way things are run, very happy indeed.”

Umbridge looked a little disappointed and made a tiny note on her clipboard, “And what are you planning to cover with this class this year? Assuming of course, that Professor Hagrid does not return?”

Professor Grubbly-Plank waved her hand dismissively, “Oh, I’ll take them through the ones most likely to come up during their O.W.Ls. There's not much left to do really, they've studied unicorns and Nifflers. I’ll go over Porlocks and Kneazles, make sure they can recognise Crups and Knarls, you know.”

“Well _, you_ seem to know what you're doing at any rate.” Professor Umbridge said, nodding smartly.

Harry didn't like the way she implied Hagrid didn't know what he was doing. Umbridge walked over to where Ron was struggling to correctly identify the plants that could be used to help treat Bowtruckles for common illnesses.

“Now, I have heard that there have been some injuries in this class?” Umbridge said, smiling down at the students.

“In such classes as these, _practical_ classes, there is always some risk of injury.” Daphne said carefully.

“Ronald Weasley got mauled by a Hippogriff.” Millicent pipped up, smiling broadly.

Harry gritted his teeth as Umbridge's eyes shone with triumph.

“A Hippogriff?” she said, scribbling frantically, “I see! Is this true, Mr Weasley?”

Ron nodded, his cheeks flushing red, “Yeah… but that wasn't Hagrid's fault, I mean he was cleared.”

“You feel that the wrong decision was made?” Professor Umbridge said with mock concern.

“Professor Umbridge!” Pansy said in horror, “That was a Ministry decision, made by Ministry officials; are you saying the Ministry is wrong?”

Professor Umbridge's eyes narrowed at her, “I wasn't at that trial, so I have no idea if some members of the Ministry were coerced by outside forces, do I?”

Harry looked to Ron, gesturing for him to point out that Umbridge didn't know the full story.

He coughed, “Well, I think it was my fault, sort of. I didn't do what I was told, that's why I got hurt.”

Umbridge patted his hand kindly, “There there, you shouldn't blame yourself. I think I have everything I need.”

Harry glared at her back as she walked away from the class, “Why didn't you make it clear that it wasn't Hagrid's fault?” he snapped at Ron.

Draco elbowed him in the side, “He tried.” he whispered.

Ron shrugged, “I'm sorry. She gives me the creeps. She keeps making comments about Dad's work at the Ministry and performance reviews.”

Harry let out a loud sigh, he couldn't blame Ron there and he also knew that it wouldn't matter what Ron said, Professor Umbridge had made it very clear she was only going to listen to what she wanted to hear.

“It's fine. I get it…” Harry said, “Sorry for snapping, but we have to stick together, can't let her win.”

Harry handed in his work to Professor Grubbly-Plank and wandered back up to the castle for double Potions.

He was tired as he took his seat and started measuring out the ingredients for that days lesson. Professor Snape let them have just over an hour before he stood and began to wander around the class.

“Mr Weasley, that is meant to be your Potion not soup, are you aware of this fact?” Severus said in a bored voice, “Mr Longbottom, I suggest you read the fourth row of instructions again _before_ you add that to your cauldron. Excellent work Miss Granger… Mr Potter… what have you done to your hand?” he asked, sounding a little worried.

Harry felt his cheeks flush, “I fell over, well tripped, caught it against the wall...” it sounded like a very weak excuse, even to his ears, “Rough… rough bit of stone.”

Severus looked him over and went round to his desk, coming back with a small pot, “This is an ointment of Murtlap tentacles, it will help cuts or scrapes heal. Apply a generous layer it twice a day.”

Harry smiled, “Thank you, Professor.”

Severus smiled and gave him a nod, “As for your potion, it is looking… adequate.”

Harry waited until after class, and after handing in his potion, to to quickly leave the classroom and press himself against the wall. He pull the bandage from his hand and smother it in the ointment Severus had given him. The effect was immediate, soothing his stinging hand and stopping the small amount of bleeding within a second.

“Harry? What are you doing?” Hermione asked walking over.

Harry sighed, “Long story, I’ll tell you later.”

“You can tell me now, we've got lunch packed up and we're meeting up by the lake.” Hermione smiled, “I've had an idea.”

Harry grinned; he was intrigued but knew better than to ask in the school, he hated that he was now having to look over his shoulder all the time at Hogwarts. He followed Hermione out of the building and flopped down on the grass, it was sunny today and nice to be outside but he couldn't help but think once again that meeting up would not be so pleasant when the castle was covered in a foot of snow; they were going to have to think of something else sooner rather than later.

“Right, we might not have much time so I will just jump into it, we need to do something about Umbridge.” Hermione said quietly.

“I know but murder would be difficult, perhaps some sort of poison?” Daphne suggested.

“We could try and make it look like an accident, you know I'm sure Peeves would be up for helping us.” Pansy added, “Possibly even some of the house elves.”

Harry smirked while Hermione just rolled her eyes.

“Well thank you but that is _not_ what I was meaning.” Hermione said, trying not to grin, “I meant so we can pass our exams. She's not teaching us enough to actually get any sort of passing grade, let alone a decent one.”

“There _is_ a lot of information in those books, however boring or simply wrong they may be.” Draco sighed.

Neville shook his head, “No, well yes, but that's not going to be enough. Hermione and I checked the exam layout, there's been no change, which means there is still a practical element to it.”

“Great.” Harry sighed.

“Well, Umbridge isn't going to change,” Pansy said flatly, “She isn't going to care if we all fail our O.W.L, she'll just blame it on our old teachers and us not trying hard enough.”

“Exactly.” Hermione said, looking around to make sure they weren't being over heard, “So I think we should teach ourselves, more specifically I think Harry should teach us.”

“Me?” Harry asked, shocked, “Are you being serious?”

Hermione nodded, “You have the most experience of actually defending yourself against the Dark Arts. You can easily teach us what we need to get through this year.”

“We did think about trying to get one of our parents here to teach us, but with Umbridge here it would just draw too much attention.” Neville added, “But with you we could keep it quiet.”

“Speaking of which...” Daphne said, digging into her bag, “I finished them.” she said, holding up six finger braids, two in Gryffindor colours with a strand of purple for Hogwarts and four in Slytherin colours with a purple strand, “One for Harry, one for Draco, Pansy, Neville and Hermione and me.”

Harry tied his on his wrist, tucking it under his shirt so it couldn't be seen, “How do they work?”

Daphne gave them a smile and kissed her finger tips and pressed them to her anklet. Harry felt his bracelets warm his skin slightly.

“That's very cool.” Neville grinned.

Daphne breathed a sigh of relief, “They all work then?”

Everyone nodded.

“Brilliant.” Daphne grinned, “Well that's one issue semi-solved. It would be useful to have something that told us the time and date as well but we can keep working on that.”

“So you'll teach us then?” Hermione asked, “And it'll give you a chance to practice yourself.”

Harry shook his head, “Look, I’m very pleased you think I can do this, but I can't. I’ve not faced that much.”

“Harry you've fought Voldemort twice.” Daphne pointed out, “And a Basilisk and over fifty Dementors at once.”

Harry glared at the ground, “You're making it sound like I had no help, and it wasn't planned; I just sort of reacted.”

“You planned for the Triwizard tasks.” Hermione pointed out, “And surely learning how to just react is half the battle.”

Harry picked angrily at the grass, “I don't want to end up in detention with Umbridge again.”

“You won’t.” Neville assured him.

“Besides, there is nothing against the rules about clubs.” Hermione pointed out, “Just think about it, OK?”

Harry nodded but he didn't want to think about it, he hadn't thought about becoming a teacher, let alone while he was still at school.

“I'll think about it, but I’m not sure how much there is I can really teach you guys.” Harry said, trying not to lose his temper again, “And I don't think Umbridge would be very happy if she did catch us, whether or not there is a rule about clubs.”

“I don't think Hermione was suggesting we do it right under her nose.” Pansy said.

“No, of course not.” Hermione said, “We'd keep it secret and try not to get caught. And it's not such a huge issue if we do. We need to keep our heads this year.”

Harry nodded, but that was easier said than done. His temper always seemed to be bubbling just below the surface currently and Umbridge had an amazing talent for making it bubble over.

“Harry are you all right?” Draco asked, “You're staring into space.”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Harry said, forcing a smile, “My hand's just hurting.”

“What did you do to it?” Neville asked.

Harry took the bandage off, revealing the 'I must not tell lies' carved onto his hand.

“Harry!” Hermione gasped, “What did you do?!”

“It wasn't me!” Harry snapped.

Pansy put a calming hand on his arm, “It was Umbridge, this is how she does her detentions; she's making students carve the lines over and over again onto their own skin.”

Neville looked at them in horror, “That can't be legal! Why did you keep going?”

“Because she threatened Dad and Remus.” Harry said, “Which is why you can't tell anyone about this. As far as Dad knows, I fell and scraped my hand.”

“Do… do you think she's doing this to all over her detention students?” Hermione asked quietly.

Harry shrugged, “I think so, I can't see why she wouldn't be. Why?”

“We sent you a note about it, didn't you get it?” Daphne said, a little confused.

Hermione and Neville both shook their heads.

  
“No.” Hermione said, “We didn't get anything.”

Harry gritted his teeth, “Do you think it was Umbridge? Reading out letters?”

  
“One lost letter, especially one that's barely one sheet of parchment with a whole three lines on it, is hardly damning evidence.” Pansy sighed, “I think we just need to be careful. Has there been anyone in Gryffindor that has had detention with Umbridge yet?”

“There was a first year. He wanted to go home after having a detention with Umbridge the other day, he wouldn't say what happened or anything, just cried.” Hermione said, “It was heartbreaking. Even more so now we know what he was likely to have gone through.”

Harry sighed and flopped back onto the grass. It was bad enough he knew that he was being hurt by the cow but now he was sure that he wasn't the only one, and there was nothing he could do to stop her, the feeling of being powerless that was really getting to him.

“I'll think about it, teaching you more.” Harry said, not sitting up, “Just give me a couple of weeks.”


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Hermione gave Harry two weeks, and although no one said anything to him, it was clear that they all thought it was a good idea.

Harry wished he could talk to Severus about it, it was the sort of thing that would be good to talk over with someone who wasn't involved and he didn't think Ron would make a good alternative.

He sat eating his porridge one morning, he glanced at the teachers table, hoping to catch a glimpse of his Dad and saw Umbridge smiling down at him. Harry felt his temper burn inside him.

“I'm in.” He said suddenly.

Draco, Daphne and Pansy turned to look at him.

“In what?” Pansy asked.

“I'll teach you all.” Harry said, carefully activating his bracelet so no one could see, “I'm not sure how much I can actually teach you but I’ll give it a go.”

Pansy smiled and tired to contain her excitement, “Thank you Harry.”

Draco nodded, “I know it seems daunting but you can do this.”

Harry smirked, “So you keep telling me. Look, Umbridge has been staring at me all morning, will one of you pop out and tell Neville and Hermione that I'm going to help?”

Daphne nodded, “Yeah not a problem. Makes sense not to draw any more attention to us than we need to.”

Harry nodded and headed off to class. Hermione slipped him a note on the way into Defence Against the Dark Arts saying they would meet tomorrow, the first Hogsmead trip of the year.

Harry woke up with a knot in his stomach, it was all well and good agreeing to teach them, at least partly to get back at Umbridge, but Harry felt there was very little that he _could_ actually teach them; they already knew a lot after all and he had no idea what would, or wouldn't, be coming up in the exams so he was no help there.

It was a mild day as they wandered down the path to Hogsmead. Harry felt so much better being out of the castle, it was nice to not have to worry about Umbridge looking over his shoulder.

“So, where are we meeting Hermione and Neville?” Harry said, once they reached the large gates to Hogsmead and he felt clear of Hogwarts's shadow.

“The Hogs Head.” Pansy said, trying her best not to wrinkle her nose.

Harry stopped in his tracks, “You can't be serious.”

Pansy nodded, “I know it's not… the nicest of places, but it's nearly always empty so there is less chance of being over- heard.”

Harry, begrudgingly, nodded and followed along. The door to the Hogs Head was dirty and clearly in need of repair.

Inside was no better; it was made up of one small, grubby room with a bar. The bar tender glared that them, wiping the bar down with a filthy rag. Harry didn't think he would be drinking anything out of a glass from here.

There were a few people around, all hooded with their faces covered and Harry couldn't help but think how out of place they all must of looked. Daphne led them to a small table in the corner where Neville and Hermione were waiting with several bottles of butter beer.

“Couldn't find somewhere a little nicer?” Harry smirked.

“We did suggest the Shrieking Shack but there were several people who weren't so keen on going there.” Neville shrugged.

Harry froze, “How many people are coming?”

Hermione blushed slightly, “Just a few. I mean, we're not the only ones unhappy with the level of teaching we're getting currently.”

“Hermione, the whole school is unhappy with the level of teaching we're getting currently!” Harry said, a little louder than he'd planned. Thankfully no one seemed to pay him any attention.

“There won't be that many.” Hermione said, waving her hand somewhat unconvincingly.

Harry slid into the corner seat and opened a bottle of butter beer, watching the door. It didn't take long for it to creak open again, letting in a stream of people.

Ron and another boy for Gryffindor, Harry thought his name was Dean along with Lavender Brown and Ginny. Harry felt his face flush red as Cho entered with one of her friends, who was looking less than comfortable.

Harry counted another two dozen with a lot of students from all four houses and turned to face Hermione, “I'm going to say this in the nicest way I know how. You are an intelligent girl, Hermione, you should know that 'a couple' is TWO!”

Hermione grinned, “I told you, no one is happy with the level of teaching we're getting at the moment.”

Fred and George went over to the stunned looking bar keeper, “Hi, lots of butter beers please.”

“Can I try Fire whiskey?” Ron asked, popping up between them.

“No you can't, Ronald!” Hermione snapped at him, “Stop being stupid.”

Ron blushed and shuffled back to where Ginny was sitting. Fred and George returned, handing out drinks to everyone before also sitting down.

Harry risked a smile to Cho, who beamed back at him, making him blush again. Hermione waited until everyone was sat down and ready to listen before standing up nervously.

“Well… um… thank you for coming,” she looked to Harry who just glared at her, “Well we all know why we're here. Harry… I mean _I_ had an idea. An idea that we needed a teacher, a proper teacher, someone who actually will teach us about Defence Against the Dark Arts, which we all want to learn.”

She pause for a moment, looking around. Pansy gave her a smile and stood up,

“Now is the time to take matters into our own hands.” Pansy said clearly, “Hermione is right, Umbridge isn't teaching us enough to pass our O.W.Ls, let alone stay alive if… _when_ we will have to stand against Voldemort.”

Most of the students around them flinched at the name and fell silent.

“Is… is it true then?” a young Hufflepuff girl asked from the back.

Harry nodded, “Everything… everything Dumbledore and I have been saying is the truth.”

“Maybe… if you could just tell us how Cedric died, exactly what happened to make you say You-Know-Who is back.” a blond boy asked, rather aggressively.

“And you are?” Draco asked, sneering a little.

“Zacharias Smith.” he said, sticking his nose into the air, “And I think we have a right to see proof.”

Hermione glared at him, “I would think-” she snapped.

“It's OK Hermione.” Harry sighed; he should of seen this coming, and was a little surprised that Hermione hadn't.

Harry looked over the thirty or more students before him, they just wanted to find out what happened that night, a lot of them, maybe as far as most of them, had only come to hear him speak, nothing to do with him teaching them.

Harry stood up, standing next to Hermione and Pansy, “You all want to know why I’m saying Voldemort is back, and honestly, if I were you I would want answers as well.” he shrugged, “Thing is… I don't want to give you any. It's nothing against you, but I would do anything to be able to forget it, and having to repeatedly go over that doesn't help. If you can't understand that then fine, but I will not keep forcing myself to relive what is the _worst_ day of my life. I will say this; I fought Voldemort that night, I saw him and one of his followers use the darkest of magic to bring his frail body back to life, I still have the scar on my arm from them stealing my blood. And I saw him kill Cedric, a good, pure-blooded wizard without a second thought. Voldemort is a threat to all of us; you either stand behind him or against him, _he_ makes sure you don't have another choice.”

The room fell very quiet. Harry glared at Smith until he sat down, looking rather sheepish. Hermione seemed unsure what to say now, Harry sat down, trying to keep his always simmering temper under control.

“We need to learn defence,” Hermione said after a minute, “I think you all know that, that's why you're here, at least in part.”

Harry wasn't so sure of that, but he'd made it very clear he wasn't going to tell them any more about Cedric's death and no one had left yet, that had to be a good sign.

Hermione took a deep breath, “And I think, under the circumstances, Harry is the best teacher we're going to get.”

“But he's only a fifth year.” Zacharias Smith said, “How much more than the rest of us can he know?”

“Is it true you can produce a Patronus?” a girl with a long plait down her back asked.

Harry nodded, “Yeah… yeah I can.” a little confused by the sudden question.

Smith looked at him, “Really? A real one?”

Harry glared back, “Yes. It's a stag, like James's was.”

“Blimey, Harry!” said Lee, one of Fred and George's friends, “I never knew that! That's way beyond normal fifth year level.”

“Actually he learned to preform the spell in third year, when he fought off over a hundred Dementors, single handedly.” Daphne said proudly.

“And he fought a Basilisk in second year.” Neville pipped up.

Harry gave half a smile, “Yeah.”

“And in first year he saved that Philosopher's stone.” Draco added, “Again facing Voldemort alone and winning… or at least not dying.”

Cho sat up, smiling to Harry, “And… not to mention last year, he managed to get through the Triwizard Tournament, he had to face dragons and merpeople and things...”

Harry couldn't help but grin at her compliments, she smiled at him making his stomach twist into happy knots.

“And that dragon was huge.” someone called from the back.

Harry coughed, “Look I… I’m not trying to sound modest or anything, but I had a lot of help with all that.”

“No you didn't.” Draco pointed out, “At least not with the Triwizard tasks.”

Harry shook his head, “I may have been standing alone, but I always knew people had my back and that was the important thing. I had help, people to help me train… when you're there you don't feel brave, I was terrified and I hate it when people call me brave as I didn't have a choice. Brave is when you have a choice, it's when you make a choice, not when you're thrown into a situation where you fight or you die.”

The room had fallen very quiet, everyone was watching Harry, even his friends where watching him hardly daring to breath and break the silence.

“So be the one who trains us.” Hermione said quietly, “Be the one who stands at our backs, the one who makes sure none of us stand alone. There will come a time Harry when many, maybe all of us, will have no choice but to stand or to die.”

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, “Of course, you’re right. Voldemort doesn't care about anyone, let alone anyone in this room. I can't promise you that luck will be on your side, like it was mine, but I will teach you everything I can.”

“And pray that when the time comes, it will be enough.” Pansy said softly.

“Why did the Ministry give us such a useless teacher?” a seventh year Ravenclaw asked, “I mean, clearly they are in denial about You-Know-Who being back but it doesn't make a lot of sense them sending someone who clearly can't teach.”

“We… they think Dumbledore is going to build and train an army against them.” Daphne said, rolling her eyes.

“You've got to be kidding?” the Ravenclaw asked.

Harry sighed, “No, she's right. Fudge is worried that Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic, and will use us to take power.”

The Ravenclaw raised her hand “Well I promise that I won’t wage war on the Ministry unless there is a very good reason and not just because Dumbledore said pretty please.”

Harry smirked, “I think we can all make that promise.”

“It's awful that they are putting our education at risk for such a stupid reason!” Ernie Macmillan huffed.

Everyone nodded. Harry was feeling a lot better about this meeting now, people seemed to be listening and they managed to move passed finding out what happened to Cedric.

“We need to meet fairly regularly,” Hermione said, “otherwise we wont learn very well, which means we need to find somewhere we can get to easily without waving it under Umbridge's nose.”

There was a murmur of agreement around the group.

“We could find an unused classroom.” Ginny suggested.

Harry nodded, “I think everyone needs to come up with any ideas they can. I would like to meet at least once a week.”

“Well it can't interfere with Quidditch.” Bletchley said, “I think all the houses can agree on that.”

Harry forced himself not to roll his eyes, “Yeah, I think we can work around that.”

“Well while everyone looks for a place…” Hermione said, rummaging in her bag, she took a deep breath and looked at the piece of parchment she was looking at “we'll send a message out to everyone when we have somewhere. I think everyone should sign this, an agreement that we won’t tell anyone, like Umbridge, who could get us into trouble about this. It's not against school rules but… well we all know what she's like. It will also give us a list of who's interested, make sure no one gets missed.”

Pansy took the piece of parchment and signed it, handing it around the room.

“We're Prefects you know.” Ernie said, looking over the parchment, “if this was found...”

“We're Prefects as well, but this is more important and you know it.” Draco said condescendingly.

Ernie nodded and signed his name quickly. Cho came over, next to Harry using the excuse of needing the table to rest the parchment on.

“Hi Harry.” she said, blushing slightly, “I think you're doing the right thing, helping us all. Not that you care about what I think of course.”

Harry smiled and tried to look cool, “Yeah, yeah I thought so. And I do, care about what you think. I really do.”

Cho smiled and passed the parchment on. When the last person had signed it, Hermione carefully put it into her bag, there was a feeling of finality in the air.

“Well, I suggest we all get going.” Neville said after a few moments, “And enjoy our day trip.”

Harry watched as the group left in twos and threes. Cho seemed to be hanging back, making a great effort of doing up her bag until her friend all but dragged her from the pub. In the end Harry was sat with Hermione, Neville, Pansy, Draco and Daphne and a lot of empty butter beer bottles.

“Honeydukes?” Draco said.

Harry smiled and nodded, standing up and heading out the door.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

Harry didn't fancy another butter beer, so opted for a pint of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows as he settled into a chair at the Three Broomsticks.

“Are you worried you're going to lose it?” Pansy asked.

Hermione frowned at her in confusion, “What?”

“The bit of parchment with all the names on.” Pansy clarified.

“I'm not likely to leave something like that just lying around.” Hermione said, rather defensively.

“Then why were you so worried about everyone signing it?” Draco asked.

Harry knew he had missed something and leaned in a little, Hermione was picking at the label on her bottle and avoiding their eyes.

“Hermione?” Harry asked.

Hermione sighed and looked up, tucking her escaping hair behind her ear, “I might of, put a sort of… jinx on the parchment.” she said, very quietly.

Harry blinked, “What?”

Hermione looked around the group, her friends looking at her with a mixture of confusion and horror, “I needed to make sure that no one would betray us, and that if they did… we would know who it was.”

“Hermione… what's going to happen to someone who told on us?” Pansy demanded to know.

“They will get 'sneak' written in spots, on their face.” Hermione said, she was starting to believe that she'd made a mistake, it sounded terrible when she said it out loud.

“Hermione!” Neville gasped.

Draco leaned in closer, glaring at Hermione, “Hermione, that isn't a 'jinx', that's a curse and from the look on your face you know that!”

“We need to know if someone betrayed us!” Hermione pointed out.

Harry shook his head, “Honestly, that's besides the point.”

“No, she's right.” Daphne said, “We do need to know. But it was wrong of you to get people to sign it without letting them know what they were signing up for.”

Hermione nodded, “We can tell them then, at the first meeting.”

“Are there any loop holes?” Pansy asked, “I mean what if they're forced to say something?”

Hermione shrugged, “I didn't think of that, but I can rework the spell so that we can remove the effects, even now that everyone has signed it.”

Harry sighed and leaned back; this was an added stress that he'd not been expecting. The last person he would of thought capable of cursing someone was Hermione, she'd put that curse on them as well.

“You don't do anything like this again.” Harry said, the fierceness in his voice made Hermione move back a little.

“Harry, I’m sorry. I didn't think.” Hermione said, trying not to cry at the way he was looking at her.

“That's clear. You put that spell on us as well!” Harry snapped.

“Harry!” Daphne hissed, “Keep your voice down!”

“What if they'd threatened Danica? Or Astoria to get us to tell? You're really happy with us being maimed for a stupid group?” Harry snapped, his voice barely any lower.

People at the tables around them were starting to look around at the noise.

“Harry, that's enough.” Draco said, “There is no reason to go off like that.”

Harry took several deep breaths, “Sorry. I don't know why I exploded like that.” he knew it sounded like a pathetic excuse but didn't know what else to say.

Hermione forced a smile, “It's OK, I know you're stressed right now.”

Harry nodded. It felt like more than just stress; he felt like he was angry for the whole world at the moment, or maybe it was that he was angry at the whole world. Either way it was always there, his rage bubbling just below the surface.

His anger at Hermione shocked him, even more so when he realised that part of his anger was of that of a master to a servant that had done something wrong. It was anger that the fact she'd dared to act without first asking for his permission.

Harry took several deep breaths and tried not to panic. He had to get control of his anger.

Harry managed to relax for the rest of the weekend. It was still warm enough during the day for him and his friends to spend the day studying out by the lake.

Monday morning arrived and Harry felt the air cool, he never seemed to get used to how quickly winter could come, being so high up and hidden in the hills.

He dressed and wandered down to breakfast with Draco, Pansy and Daphne. It wasn't long before he felt his bracelet warm on his skin. Neville had just popped his head through the door. Harry wrapped up his slices of toast and left the Great Hall.

“What's up?” he mumbled, trying not to spray Neville with crumbs.

Neville looked grim and led them through to the entrance hall.

“We spotted this on the Gryffindor board this morning, we were hoping it was a joke but it's out here as well.” Hermione said, her arms crossed protectively over her chest.

Harry swallowed, with some difficultly, as he read over the official looking note with neat seal attached to the bottom.

**BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS**

All student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded.

Organisations, societies, teams, groups or clubs is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.

Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).

No student organisation, society, team, group or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.

Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organisation, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty Four.

Signed:

Dolores Jane Umbridge

High Inquisitor

Harry read over it again, just to make sure he wasn't have some sort of fit and imagining things.

“Do you think we'll have to stop chess club?” a young Hufflepuff asked, standing on tip toes to read the declaration.

Harry shook his head, “I think chess club is safe.”

Harry gestured for them to move into a quiet corner, “This can't be a coincidence. She has to of found out somehow.”

Hermione shrugged, “Well no one has told her that signed the parchment, someone else in the pub maybe?”

Harry sighed, they couldn't tell Umbridge about him teaching DADA, she'd never consent to it.

“We can just back out,” Harry suggested, “if you think it's not worth the risk.”

“I'm in.” Draco said quickly, “We can keep it hidden from the old bat.”

Harry grinned, “We're going to need a better way of letting people know when we're meeting, no offence to your bracelets, they've been brilliant but we need something with a time, and hopefully a date.”

Hermione smiled, “Worry not, I’ve been working on that.”

Harry grinned again, “Thanks.”

“For what?” Daphne asked, as the bell rang, summoning them all to class.

“Just being my friends.” Harry shrugged, “You've never left me feeling alone.”

“Harry, you will never stand alone.” Pansy promised, “Now come on, Professor McGonagall will kill us if we're late.”

Harry nodded, the last thing he needed was a detention with McGonagall, although at least she was more likely to turn him into a ferret than force him to carve into his own skin.

He took his seat next to Draco and focused on turning his snails into little jewellery boxes. Harry was fairly pleased with his progress, even though his box seemed to be leaving a slim trail still.

“Harry look!” Daphne said worriedly, from the desk in front of him.

Harry looked at her, following her arm to where she was pointing to the window. Harry jumped from his seat, flinging open the window and cradling a shaken Hedwig in his arms.

“Mr Potter, is that not your owl?” Professor McGonagall asked, walking over, “Continue with your work class, this isn't a side show.”

Harry nodded, “She's been injured.” he said, noticing the blood on her wing.

He could feel his heart racing, they had just been at breakfast and Hedwig had a letter tied to her leg. She must have been attacked on her way, but who would attack an owl?

“You should take her to Professor Grubbly-Plank.” Professor McGonagall said, she wrote out a note excusing him from class, “Take this, she should be in the staff room. If not then she will be in her quarters, they're in the north wing.”

Harry smiled, “Thank you, Professor.”

Professor McGonagall looked at him kindly, “Run along now Potter, it's clear you care for your owl very dearly.”

Harry nodded and left the room. Thankfully the corridors were fairly empty as nearly all the students were in class. Harry found the staff room and hammered on the door.

“Quietly boy!” one of the gargoyles that flanked the staff room door, “you should be in class anyway boy!”

“It's urgent!” Harry snapped, holding Hedwig close as she snuggled into his arms, cooing quietly.

The staff room door was opened by a rather annoyed Professor Vector, “What is it?”

“It's _urgent.”_ The second gargoyle mocked.

“I need to see Professor Grubbly-Plank… please.” Harry said, “I have a note from Professor McGonagall.”

Professor Vector took the note and looked it over, “Wilhelmina, there's someone here to see you.”

Professor Grubbly-Plank looked up from her copy of the Daily Prophet and took the pipe out from between her teeth.

“Mr Potter, what's the matter?” she asked, walking over.

“It's my owl Professor, she's been injured.” Harry said, reluctantly letting go of Hedwig.

“Looks like she's been attacked.” Professor Grubbly-Plank mused, “Thestrals will sometimes go for birds, but Hagrid's got the ones here well trained, they'd never go after an owl.”

Harry didn't really care what had attacked Hedwig, he just wanted to make sure she was going to be all right. There was a horrid sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew who'd attacked Hedwig anyway, and as Professor Grubbly-Plank had said, it wasn't a Thestral.

“How far has this owl travelled, Potter?” Professor Grubbly-Plank asked.

“Umm, London I think. That's where Mum lives.” Harry said.

Professor Grubbly-Plank nodded, “Well it think she'll be all right. She's not going to be flying long distances for a few days but I can get her fixed up.”

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you, thank you so much.”

Professor Grubbly-Plank smiled, “No worries Potter, I’ll get her back to you as soon as I can, should be by the end of the day. What did you say her name was?”

“Hedwig.” Harry said, “She likes chicken flavoured treats the best and doesn't like fish, apart from tuna sometimes.”

“No worries, Potter. I’ll look after her.” Professor Grubbly-Plank said, walking back into the staff room with Hedwig.

“One moment.” Professor Vector said, she took the letter from Hedwig, “Seems you have a letter Mr Potter.”

“Oh yeah.” Harry said, he'd completely forgotten about the letter.

Professor Vector handed him the envelope and he took it, forcing his hand not to tremble at the sight of the specks of blood on the paper.

He thanked Professor Grubbly-Plank again and headed back to Transfiguration.

“Will your owl be all right Mr Potter?” Professor McGonagall asked, as Harry took his seat.

Harry nodded, “Yes. Thank you for allowing me out of class.”

Professor McGonagall nodded, “Everyone may pack up now. Harry a few words after class, just to catch you up please.”

Harry was surprised at being told to pack up with a whole two and a half minutes left of class, it was most unlike Professor McGonagall to let them even think about packing away until the bell rang.

Harry waited back until everyone but Draco, Pansy and Daphne had left. Professor McGonagall gestured for him to move over to the desk.

“These words I am about to tell you, will not leave this room. Am I understood?” Professor McGonagall asked.

Harry nodded, as did his friends.

“You three may also stay.” Professor McGonagall conceded, “Firstly, I think you have worked out that your owl may not have been in a simple accident.”

Harry nodded, but didn't say anything, he didn't completely trust McGonagall, even if she was a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

“I would warn you that all communication in, and out, of Hogwarts is being watched and to take the greatest of care. Do not put anything on paper you wouldn't want _certain_ Hogwarts staff to read.” Professor McGonagall said, not taking her eyes off her marking.

“Thank you Professor, we will bare that in mind.” Harry said.

Professor McGonagall nodded, “Good. The next is, I have been tasked to give you this.” She handed over a small, folded note in Severus's distinctive spidery hand writing.

“Thank you Professor.” Harry said, taking the paper.

“I expect an improvement next lesson, Mr Potter.” Professor McGonagall said, more loudly, “Traditionally jewellery boxes do not, in fact, produce slime.”

Harry nodded and left the room quickly.

“Could you imagine the annoyance of jewellery boxes making slime!” Pansy said, wrinkling her nose.   
  
“My platinum earrings wouldn't stand for it!” Daphne smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled at them. Thankfully it had been a double period of Transfiguration, giving them enough time during their break to wonder outside, next to the lake so Harry could read the notes without fear of being spied on.

“Anything interesting?” Draco asked, checking his watch.

Harry shook his head, “Not really. Dad was saying that Quidditch is also being included in the banning of clubs, apparently Bletchley was having a hard time trying to get the Slytherin teams permission, Umbridge has said she'll think about it. The letter Hedwig was carrying was just a picture from Danica, but I'm sure it was Umbridge who attacked her.”

“Be careful who you say that to.” Daphne warned.

Harry nodded, “Yes. Come on, we'd better head back to class.”

Harry trudged up the grass back towards the castle and History of Magic.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- There are so many amazing celebrations happening at this time of year and it has been such a crazy year! So whether you celebrate or not I hope you have a brilliant end to what has been a very confusing year. xx

Chapter Twenty Three

Harry was more pleased than he wanted to admit as he took his seat in the Potions classroom towards the end of the day. He took his seat at the back of the class, at the same desk as Draco, Daphne and Pansy and pulled out his copy of 'One thousand magical herbs and fungi'.

Professor Snape stood up from behind his desk and moved around the room, handing out their strengthening potions.

“You will notice,” Severus said, pointing to the corner of the room, “That we have a guest with us here today.”

Harry looked over and felt his heart drop as Professor Umbridge made her irritating hem hem sound, smiling broadly at the class.

“We are continuing our Strengthening Solution today. You should find your mixtures have matured well over the weekend. Instructions,” he tapped the board with his wand, “on the board. Carry on.”

Harry couldn't help but keep looking over to where Umbridge was sat in the corner, not saying anything just scribbling notes on her clipboard.

“Harry will you please focus.” Daphne hissed, swapping out the sage he had in his hand for mugswart.

Harry shook his head, “Sorry, I can't help it.”

“Just ignore her.” Draco told him.

Harry forced himself not to roll his eyes, he would ignore he if it was that easy. Umbridge stood up and started walking around, peering into the cauldrons, having to stand on her tip toes to do so.

She marked a few more things on her clipboard. She made the mistake of asking Hermione a few questions to try and catch her out, which of course Hermione had no problem with answering.

“Well, this class seems adequately advanced for their level.” Professor Umbridge conceded, she seemed a little disappointed by this fact, “Although I’m not sure how wise it is to teach them a potion like Strengthening Solution, I think the Ministry would much rather it was removed from the syllabus.”

Professor Snape straightened up, “I see. And the reasoning behind that would be?”

“Well, I would have thought it was quite clear that Strengthening Solution could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.” Umbridge said, in her sickly sweet voice.

“My job, as Potions teacher is to teach them a wide range of techniques. Strengthening Solution, like all my potions, have been carefully selected in order to teach the techniques they will need.” Severus said carefully, “Further more all of the potions are disposed of carefully, without the students having any access to them.”

Professor Umbridge gave him a tight smile and scribbled a few more notes, “Now you've been teaching her for how long?”

“Fourteen years, although I have taken a year off in all, six months when my wife was ill and another six months after my daughter was born.” Professor Snape said.

“You applied first for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?” Umbridge asked, watching a nearby potion turn from turquoise to orange.

“That is correct.” Severus told her, “Zabini you need to stir in the other direction.”

“But you were unsuccessful?” Umbridge asked, sticking her bottom lip out patronisingly.

Professor Snape's lips curled into a tight smile, “Obviously.”

“And you have applied regularly for the post since you first joined the school?” Umbridge asked, writing away.

“Yes.” Severus said, “We seem to have an uncanny knack for loosing our Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, it's such a pity.”

Harry snorted a laugh which he quickly managed to turn into a cough as Umbridge and Severus turned to look at him.

“Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has so consistently refused to appoint you?” Umbridge asked, with fake sympathy.

“I suggest you ask him, I wouldn't wish to put words in our headmaster's mouth.” Severus said coolly.

“Oh, I will.” Umbridge smiled.

“Is this really relevant?” Severus asked, after a few moments of her writing and not saying a word.

“Oh yes.” Umbridge said smiling, “The Ministry wishes to have a thorough understanding of teachers… backgrounds.”

Umbridge turned away and started to question Ron on his lessons and why his potion was now congealing horribly.

“Do you think she's going to blame Dad for Ron's awful potion making skills?” Harry whispered.

Pansy took the bottle he was about to pour into his potion and replaced it with another, “I don't know, but I think she will use everything she can to get her own way. Worst type of Slytherin, no morals at all.”

Harry couldn't disagree there and focused again on his potion, making sure he followed every step. He placed his completed potion on Professor Snape's desk and smiled. Umbridge quickly walked over and picked it up, holding up to the light.

“Well I must say, I’ve seen better.” she said, making another note on her annoying clipboard.

Harry dug his nails into his palms and forced a smile.

“You must have been very good at Potions, Professor Umbridge.” Draco smiled.

“Yes Professor, what grade did you get for Potions?” Daphne asked.

Professor Umbridge gave them a tight smile, “Hem hem, I think you four best be running along to your next class.”

Harry smirked and left the classroom, walking as slowly as he could to Divination until Pansy got annoyed and pulled him along so they weren't late.

Harry sat down, next to Ron and grimaced at the long list of dreams Ron had already laid out on the table.

Professor Trelawney stomped over and slammed 'The Dream Oracle' down on the desks.

“Is everything all right Professor?” Harry asked slowly, gingerly picking up his book like it was going to explode.

Professor Trelawney stomped back into her chair and threw herself into it, angry tears filling her eyes, “Get on with your work!” she snapped, “You know what to do, or am I such a sub-standard teacher you all don't know how to open a book?!”

Parvati Patil shuffled awkwardly in her seat, “Is there something wrong Professor?”

“Wrong?!” cried Professor Trelawney, “Certainly not! I have been insulted, certainly… insinuations have been made against me… unfounded accusations levelled… but no, there is nothing wrong, certainly not!” she took huge breaths, her body shaking with anger, looking away from Parvati and wiping her eyes with the corner of her shawl, “I say nothing, after sixteen years of devoted service… it has passed, apparently, unnoticed… but I shall not be insulted, no, I shall not!”

Harry tried to focus on his book. He guessed, correctly, that Professor Trelawney had gotten the report back from Professor Umbridge, her reaction left him little hope for Severus's own report.

Lavender and Parvati, however seemed not to put the pieces together.

“Who could be insulting you Professor?” Lavender asked, her eyes wide in shock.

Professor Trelawney took a deep dramatic breath, “The Establishment!” she cried, “Yes, those with eyes too clouded by the mundane to See as I see, to Know as I know… of course, we Seers have always been feared, always persecuted… it is, alas, our fate.”

Parvati nodded, catching on, “Professor,” she said slowly, “do you mean… is it something Professor Umbridge...”

Professor Trelawney looked deeply insulted, “Do NOT speak to me about that woman!” she cried, “Now, kindly continue with your work!”

Harry did his best to ignore Professor Trelawney's snippy comments about his likely hood of dying before the year was out, worsening his already awful mood. Choosing to quickly leave the room as soon as the bell rang.

He regretted it however, when he reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts class so quickly he was one of the first ones in. Umbridge smiled at him, her beady eyes following him to his seat and continuing to stare until the rest of the class had arrived.

“Good afternoon class.” Umbridge said, straightening her black velvet bow.

“Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge...” the class chanted back, wearily.

“Wands away, please.” Umbridge said, shaking her head patronisingly.

There was no flurry of movement this time though; they had all learned that they wouldn't be using wands in this class while she was here.

Umbridge smiled so smugly Harry wanted to smack her, “Please turn to page thirty four of 'Defensive Magical Theory' and read the third chapter, entitled 'The Case for Non-Offensive Responses to Magical Attack”. There will be no need to talk.”

Harry tried to read through the never ending drawling of Wilbert Slinkhard, who had clearly never been in a fight in his life.

He strongly believed that any spell cast at another human being (the rules were more 'complex and varied' for non-humans as they were unpredictable) was completely unnecessary. Any violent situation could be resolved without the need for magic.

“I thought we would try something new today.” Professor Umbridge said, half way through the lesson.

Half of the class sat up eagerly, one or two excited Gryffindors even reached for their wands.

“There will be no need for wands.” Umbridge snapped, before plastering on her fake, broad smile again, “No, I thought we would see how much you learnt from chapters one and two in a little test!”

Harry groaned inwardly, only Umbridge could get this excited over a test. Umbridge pulled a large stack of papers from the top draw of her desk.

“Miss Parkinson, would you please be kind enough to hand these out? There are two pages to the test, with questions on both sides. There will be no need to talk.”

Pansy stood up without a word and walked to the front of the class, her heeled court shoes echoed strangely throughout the classroom.

Umbridge raised an eyebrow, “Miss Parkinson, do you really think those shoes are appropriate for school?”

Pansy looked down, “I don't see why not Professor Umbridge.” she smiled.

Umbridge walked forward, her own heel clicking away, “Miss Parkinson, you are a child.”

Pansy gritted her teeth, “I'm fifteen, Professor Umbridge. Hardly a child.”

“You are a child, and therefore it is not appropriate for you to dress like an adult, and that includes wearing high heeled shoes.” Umbridge said sternly.

Pansy didn't say anything, not breaking eye contact with Umbridge.

“Well?” Umbridge said, the impatience breaking through her sickly sweet voice.

“I don't have any other shoes with me, Professor Umbridge. My parents thought that these were suitable.” Pansy said.

“I can modify them so they are flat, practical, sensible school shoes.” Umbridge said, holding out her hand of them.

Pansy gave her a look of distaste, “Professor Umbridge, with all due respect, these are two hundred and forty galleon shoes. I don't think my parents, who are on the board of governors, would be very happy if you 'modified' them.”

“Well I suggest you take them off, and send for new ones as soon as possible.” Umbridge whispered at her.

Pansy reached down and undid the buckle on her shoes, placing them neatly on her desk and handing out the tests.

Harry could feel his blood boil, gripping his book to stop him from yelling out and getting himself into more trouble.

The test was deadly dull, and Harry was fairly sure he had failed most of the questions, they mostly concerned exact quotes from the book, which he didn't remember in such detail.

“I can't believe she picked on your shoes!” Harry said, once they had left the class and were a safe distance away.

“Evil cow.” Pansy hissed, “Typical, I’m finally allowed to wear heels and some bat-shit crazy teacher comes along and takes them away. Oh for the days of teachers who simply wanted to kill Harry.” she laughed.

Harry smirked and rolled his eyes, “Yeah things were so much simpler back then. I mean, Quirrell might have had Voldemort stuck in the back of his head, but he never stole people's shoes!”

“I better write home for some new ones as well.” Daphne said, “Can't imagine I’ll be allowed them any more than you will.”

Pansy nodded, “Yes, and you're taller than me, I’m surprised she didn't pick on you today.”

“It's the clicking noise as well.” Daphne sighed, “It makes you feel so important. And of course the wonderful, amazing, Professor Umbridge can be the only important person in the class.”

“And she makes the most ridiculous clicking, scraping noise as she can hardly walk in such thin heels.” Pansy grumbled, “I tell you what, I should send away for flats that are enchanted to make the clicking noise…”

“What a wonderful idea!” Daphne grinned.

“Girls are weird.” Draco smirked.

Harry nodded, he couldn't argue there.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four

“Violéta” Harry said, causing the door to the Slytherin common room to swing open.

He climbed through the door and headed for the boys dorm, to drop his bag off before playing some chess before dinner.

“Potter!”

Harry turned to see Miles Bletchley hurrying after him, “What's up?”

Miles looked awkwardly at Harry, “I need to discuss something with you.”

Harry could sense that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation but nodded and followed Miles back down the stairs to a quieter corner of the common room.

“As I’m sure you're aware, all clubs and groups have been banned by Professor Umbridge.” Miles began, “I went to her today to ask respectfully for permission to reform the Slytherin Quidditch team, with the original team mates.”

Harry sighed, “Let me guess, she wasn't so fond of the idea?”

Miles shook his head, “She said she's given all the other houses permission already, which is true, I’d already checked, but she made a point about there being two seekers… and a 'worrying team mate'.”

Harry shook his head, “She meant me?”

Miles nodded, “Yeah, I think so. Look Harry, you are a brilliant player, I’m not trying to put a shadow on that, however she's going to refuse permission if I don't drop you. I can feel it.”

Harry wasn't sure what to say. He loved flying, playing Quidditch and being part of the team, even if he didn't get to play every match, was one of the things he loved about Hogwarts.

Miles pulled out a piece of folded parchment, “I just wanted to tell you, to make sure you knew it was nothing personal. You really are a very brilliant flyer and as soon as… if Professor Umbridge leaves or loosens the reins a little, we'll be happy to have you back.”

Harry nodded and walked up to his dorm, opening the slip of paper.

_This note is to confirm that Mr Harry James Potter, Seeker, is removed from the Slytherin Quidditch team until further notice._

_Miles Bletchley_

_Slytherin Team Captain._

Harry felt a great burst of rage flood his system and he punched his pillow, sending up a small cloud of feathers.

Draco walked into the room smiling, “Come on Harry, Pansy has already beaten Daphne at chess and wants to… you killed the pillow?” Draco said, brushing some feathers off his bed.

Harry flopped down onto his bed and handed Draco the note without a word. Draco took the parchment and read over it.

“What? Why?” Draco spat.

Harry sighed, “Umbridge. She basically told Bletchley that if I was on the team he wouldn't be getting permission. Bletchley thought it was the best move as we had two seekers anyway. I can't honestly say I blame him.”

Draco wasn't sure what to say, “You love flying.”

“Don't you think I know that?” Harry snapped, hitting the pillow again, causing it to give up it's last few feathers.

Draco glared at him, “Hey, it's not me that's said you can't play.”

Harry took several deep breaths, “I'm sorry. I just can't seem to control myself at the moment.”

Draco nodded, “I know last year was rough...”

“It's more than that.” Harry said, shaking his head, “It's more than that, I know it is. I just can't explain it.”

Draco sat down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders, “Look it's fine. I'll leave a note for the house elves, asking for a new pillow. Come and play chess, we'll talk it out.”

Harry nodded, but it was hollow. He felt like he was always being watched, his conversations being over-heard. He hated how paranoid he seemed to of become, it was even worse considering he didn't know why.

He picked listlessly at his dinner later and hurried back to the dorm room to start on his homework. Daphne, Pansy and Draco soon joined him, pulling out text books and rolls of parchment.

“You seemed very distracted over dinner.” Draco said, after a few minutes of working quietly.

Harry nodded, “I'm just tired I guess, not been sleeping great and all.”

Draco, Daphne and Pansy nodded. Harry was glad of the quiet, he was pleased that his friends knew him well enough not to push him to much, and immensely thankful that even after they'd finished their homework they chose to sit quietly reading with him rather than leaving him alone, until the fire was little more than embers in the grand fireplace.

Harry was deeply buried in 'Alice in Wonderland' when Daphne pulled on his robe sleeve.

“Umm Harry...” she hissed, pointing towards the fire place.

Harry pulled himself away from giant caterpillars and looked into the flames, they had twisted themselves into Sirius's face, beaming at him from the fire.

Harry looked round quickly, they were the only ones in the common room, so he moved over, kneeling down by the fire.

“I'm glad I caught you.” Sirius said.

“How did you know I was going to be here?” Harry asked.

Sirius shrugged, well Harry assumed it was a shrug, it was hard to tell when you could only see his face.

“I didn't, I was just hoping that you'd be at your normal space. I know that you prefer sitting by the fire, just like your Mum.” Sirius smiled.

Harry grinned, “I'm glad you're here.”

“Me too.” Sirius said, “As I said, I’m glad I caught you. So, hi.”

“Hi.” Harry said, “So, what are you doing?”

Sirius smiled, “Wanted to check up on you, it's been rough lately, so I’ve heard.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah we've had a lot going on. I umm… it was suggested to our Quidditch captain that I wasn't a good fit for the team. So no flying for me for a while.”

“I'm sorry, I know how much flying means to you. Your Dad, James, always thought it was a good release as well, felt like it cleared his head.” Sirius said, “I'm assuming it was your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge, that made this suggestion?”

Harry nodded, trying not to snarl too much. “You would be correct.”

“Harry what have you done to your hand?” Sirius asked, seeing the mostly healed scar, as Harry ran his hand through his hair.

Harry flinched and covered the mark, “It's nothing.”

“Harry that doesn't look like nothing.” Sirius said concerned, “Harry, your Mum is standing right there, I'll call her over in a second if you're not careful so I suggest you tell the truth.”

Harry glared at him, he could feel his rage burning again, “It was her, Umbridge. It's her idea of detention. Look don't tell Mum or Dad, the bitch is psycho. Don't tell Mum or Dad I said that either.”

“She… Lily I think Danica is waking up.” Sirius said,

Harry could hear the noise of someone leaving the room and smirked, “Thanks.”

“She carved that into your skin?” Sirius spat, “And Dumbledore knows about his?”

Harry shrugged, “Not sure but I guess so. She didn't carve it, she has this quill thing that does it as you write.”

Sirius shook his head in anger, “You _have_ told your Dad about this I hope?”

“No.” Harry said, “I can't, and you can't either. He'd be so angry, he'd have a go at Umbridge and she… she made it very clear that if anyone was to find out, it would be bad for you and Dad and Uncle Remus and just about everyone else in my life that I care about.”

“So what?” Sirius snapped, “You're just going to carve into your hand next time she snaps her fingers.”

Harry glared at him, “I don't have a whole lot of choice right now. At the moment, the plan is to just stay out of trouble, she can't give me a detention if I’ve done nothing to warrant one.”

“And how does setting up illegal Defence Against the Dark Arts clubs factor into that plan exactly?” Sirius asked.

Harry blinked in surprise, “How on earth do you know about that?”

Sirius grinned, “The Hogs head isn't the most secure of locations.”

“Hermione thought it was for the best, the Three Broomsticks is always packed.” Harry said.

“Which means it would have been harder for someone to over hear you.” Sirius pointed out, “Hermione has a lot to learn.”

“Well, unlike some people, she's a good little Gryffindor Prefect.” Harry smirked.

“Do you know the same way Umbridge knows?” Daphne asked, dropping down onto the carpet next to Harry.

Sirius shook his head, “No, not from our source anyway. Although from her latest educational decree I would put money on the fact she knows some how.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah we'd worked that out as well. So how do you know about our 'little' meeting?”

“Mundungus.” Sirius said.

“I didn't see him there.” Harry said, wrinkling his nose. Mundungus was not his favourite person in the world.

“He was the witch under the veil. Since we lost Moody's spare invisibility cloak he's been having to dress as a woman a lot.” Sirius explained.

“So why was he there in the first place?” Daphne asked.

Sirius looked slightly awkwardly at Harry.

“He was following me?” Harry snapped, “So Dumbledore can't be bothered to talk to me but is having me followed every time I leave the castle?”

“Calm down Harry.” Sirius said quietly, “He has his reasons, I promise you.”

Harry forced himself to take several deep breaths, it wasn't fair to be angry at Sirius, “I don't want to be followed. I’ve faced Voldemort more than most people still in the Order. I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can Harry, we all do. But these are dangerous times, we know Hedwig was attacked. That's why I risked talking to you like this, any letters are no longer safe.” Sirius said.

Harry nodded, “I know. Hedwig seemed really shaken up, Professor Grubbly-Plank seems to of gotten her fixed up well though.”

“I'm glad.” Sirius smiled, “If you need to send any letters home, send them with Severus, it might take a few days to get here but at least we know it will. Same the other way, we can send any information we need you to know with Severus.”

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes, there was rarely any information they felt he needed to know at the moment.

“We need somewhere to meet, for the Defence club.” Harry said, “Any ideas?”

Sirius shrugged, “Shrieking Shack?”

“There's too many of us, we'd be spotted for sure trying to get over thirty of us past that tree.” Harry sighed, “Plus a lot of people didn't seem so keen on the idea.”

“Yeah we gave that place a fairly bad reputation.” Sirius grinned, “Lily, any ideas for places they could hold their club?”

Harry waited while Lily said something.

“She says there was an old room, difficult to find. She used it to hang out with Severus, when… when he wasn't up for being around people.” Sirius said, “Somewhere on the seventh floor.”

“I'll try asking Dad if he remembers where it is.” Harry said.

“Your mum says it might not be big enough for a lot of people, although it's worth a look.” Sirius smiled.

“Yeah thanks Sirius, and give my love to...” Harry started

“Someone's coming.” Pansy hissed looking towards the staircases up to the dorm rooms, “I can hear footsteps.”

“I can hear them too.” Sirius said, “They're not coming from your end.”

“Sirius go!” Harry said, quickly.

Sirius left the fireplace, and a second later there was a pudgy hand, grabbing around the space where Sirius had been a moment before.

The hand grabbed around the fireplace, reaching for someone that wasn't there any more thankfully before leaving, returning the flames instantly to their former, dying selves.

Harry, Draco, Daphne and Pansy sat for a moment, staring into the fire trying to get over the shock.

“That was Umbridge, wasn't it?” Harry said after a moment.

The others nodded,

“Yes. I recognised the rings.” Draco said.

“So it's not just owls she's trying to snoop in on, she's watching the fireplaces as well.” Pansy spat.

“She must have some sort of alarm system.” Daphne said, “It's passed midnight there's no way she's up just watching, waiting for something to happen. Even we didn't know that Sirius was going to contact you this evening.”

Harry nodded, that made sense, and would explain the delay in her getting there. She was closing in, there was nothing he could do but wait and hope that at least letters could get home through Severus, for now.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

Harry woke up the next morning and sighed, the weather was horrible, pouring with rain so hard he could hear it even in the dorm room.

"I feel sorry for the Gryffindors." Draco smiked, getting dressed, "They've got Quidditch practice today."

Harry let out a laugh and pulled on his own clothes, then he remembered he wouldn't be flying any more and wished he could be out, even in this weather.

Angelina, the Gryffindor Captain, kept looking up at the sky and talking angrily to Fred and George.

"Wonder what they're up too?" Harry mused, "I'm not sure Angelina is suited to being a captain, she's so stressed all the time."

"She'll get grey hairs if she's not careful," Daphne agreed, "Although wouldn't you, having to deal with a team full of Weasleys?"

"I bet you anything Fred and George are trying to get out of practice." Draco said, "I can't exactly blame them in this weather."

The wind blew loudly over the ceiling, making several people jump. Harry wasn't sure what the plan was for the day; they had planned to spend at least a fair bit of the day out by the lake, it would give them a chance to catch up with Hermione and Neville but the weather had well and truly ruled that out.

"Fancy heading to the library after breakfast?" Harry asked.

Pansy, Draco and Daphne nodded. They finished up quickly, Umbridge seemed to never stop looking over them at meal times, it rather put Harry off his food. Hedwig wasn't going out any more, she was too easy to spot so Harry didn't even have letters from home to look forward to.

The library was quiet, Madam Pince seemed preoccupied dusting the restricted section so they were able to quietly move two of the tables together so they could spread out.

Harry could see the Gryffindor team trying to practice, several people getting blown badly off course in the weather.

"Harry… Harry!" Hermione hissed, "Stop watching, it's not worth it."

Harry forced a smile, "You're right. Sorry, I just miss it."

Hermione nodded, "Well, lets think logically about it. You can still fly, you still have your broom. And not having to worry about Quidditch will help you keep up with your class work, goodness knows we could all do with some more time."

Harry sighed and forced himself not to glare at her, "Seem like there's not much to be happy about if I'm swapping Quidditch for homework and-" Harry let out a scream of pain.

He clutched at his head, slamming it down on the desk.

"What on earth is going on there?" Madam Pince shouted across the shelves.

Draco reached over, supporting Harry's head as he slowly sat up, "Nothing Madam, sorry, I just… stubbed my toe."

"If you make such a racket again and I will have to ask you to leave." she snapped, but left them alone.

"Harry what happened?" Pansy asked.

Harry took several deep breaths, his head was spinning, "My scar hurt, really really hurt. I thought it was going to split my head open."

"Is… _he…_ close?" Daphne whispered.

Harry shook his head, "No I think… I think he's angry." Harry didn't know how he knew, but the moment the words left his mouth he knew they were true, "He needs something, and it's not being done quickly enough."

Harry looked around his friends, who were looking at him in shock.

Neville shuffled in his seat, "Harry, it's not that I don't believe you, but how do you know that?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. But I do. It's like the pain put it in my head." it sounded crazy, even to himself.

"Ok." Hermione said, nodding, "Do you know anything else, something we could use?"

Harry shook his head, "No. He's just angry."

"You need to tell Professor Snape." Draco said quickly.

"No!" Harry hissed, "I wont drag him into this, we don't even know what 'this' is."

"I agree, Harry." Daphne said, "You have to tell your father, I know you don't want to cause trouble but this… from the sound of things you were inside Voldemort's mind. That's very strong magic, most Legilimens need to be looking at their target, not hundreds of miles away."

Harry rubbed his head, his scar was still hurting although now it was a dull ache rather than shooting pain.

"I don't think I was using Legilimency, I don't know how to apart from anything else." Harry pointed out, "But it's more like I was lurking I guess? But not on purpose, I was just there and then I wasn't."

"Do you think he knew you were there?" Neville asked, "I mean was he in your head as well?"

Harry shook his head, "No, I don't think so. I don't think he even knew he'd pulled me in."

"Tell Professor Snape." Hermione said firmly.

Harry still wasn't sure that he should be doing this, as he carefully peeled the name label off his bottle and tucked a note behind it before re-sticking it securely, with a star in the corner, if you looked carefully enough.

"Time is up, please hand me your completed potions. It is drawing closer and closer to your O.W.L, I expect that these will be of far better quality that your last lot." Professor Snape said, looking up from the book he was reading.

Harry took several deep breaths, "I shouldn't tell him." He whispered to Draco, Daphne and Pansy, "My scar isn't even hurting any more."

"He needs to know, your Mother needs to know." Draco hissed back.

Harry knew that was the case but it felt like he was making a mistake, he should be dealing with this alone. It was bad enough he was dragging his friends in, and now he was dragging in his family.

"I'm putting people in danger again." Harry said quietly.

Pansy grabbed the potion bottle off him before he could remove the note, "You're being stupid. Do you think if You-know-who takes power we'll be in less danger?"

She marched up to Professor Snape's desk and placed the potions in the neat rows with everyone else's.

"I'd take a close look at Potter's." Pansy said quietly, "I think it looks a bit 'off' around the edges."

Severus nodded, "Thank you Miss Parkinson."

Harry smiled, they made their way to the common room to drop their bags off before wondering to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry didn't have much of an appetite and picked listlessly at his stew.

"Harry you need to eat something." Daphne said, buttering another slice of bread for him and putting his spoon back in his hand.

"I'm not hungry." Harry mumbled.

"You did the right thing." Draco said, "It's important that they have all of the information."

Harry slammed his hand down, "It only ever works that way though doesn't it?"

Draco, Daphne and Pansy jumped at his sudden movement.

" 'They' never keep us informed do they? No. They treat us like children, not to be trusted." Harry snapped, "You know 'they' are keeping secrets from us."

Daphne glared at him, "Number one, Harry, we are children and there is a lot going on right now. We have to trust that Dumbledore knows what is best and is doing everything he can to keep us all safe."

Harry suddenly felt exhausted, "But what if he's not?"

"What do you mean?" Pansy asked.

"Your parents never liked Dumbledore during the first war, very few pure blood families did, there was just this big shift as I was growing up and Mum was becoming a big part of their lives, becoming friends with Draco's parents. It was ten years! It changed everything for so many people. But we don't know that Dumbledore is as good as we think he is. He's barely talked to me all year, he defended me at the trail without saying anything to me, he barely even looked at me!" Harry pointed out, he knew he needed to tell everyone something, but it was like the thought was covered in treacle in his mind.

"It's not… there is a lot going on, as I said. Dumbledore is having to worry about a lot of people, not just you." Daphne said carefully.

Harry smirked, "So what you're trying to say is it's not all about me?"

Daphne smiled, "Your words, not mine and I choose to remain silent over my implications."

"I know you're going to miss Quidditch but you can come out and fly with us still, there's no rule against that." Draco pointed out, "You could help coach."

Harry nodded, "You're right. I'd be good at bossing you all around."

"And you have to focus on our… extra curricular groups." Pansy whispered, "Maybe come up with a few lesson plans or something."

Harry shrugged, "I've got a few ideas but I need to know what sort of level everyone is at first, it's all well and good me throwing you in at the deep end, but I'm not sure some of the other students would do so well."

"Well, finding out what level everyone is at is lesson plan number one then." Pansy said with a nod.

Harry smiled and managed to finish his dinner, it didn't fix everything but not being hungry helped him think a little clearer.

He watched Severus say something to Professor Umbridge who once again turned her beady little eyes towards Harry, smiling broadly before nodding.

Severus made his way over, "A quick word Mr Potter."

Harry nodded and went to stand up.

"No need to move, Mr Potter, here is just fine." Severus said, his eyes darting to Umbridge just for a split second.

"What is it Professor?" Harry said, clearly.

"There were some concerns raised about your latest potion. It wasn't bad, and there is no need to worry as of now. Your Mother was always very good at potions so I feel that with a little help from her you will be able to pass your O.W.L without issue. I suggest talking it over with her during the holidays." Severus said.

"Thank you for taking an extra look at it. I was just a little worried, it had an unusual reaction." Harry said carefully.

"Always happy to look over your work, as I look over all my students work." Professor Snape said formally, "Someone needs to make sure at least half of you pass your exams."

Harry smiled, "So you're not worried… about my chances of passing my O.W.L?"

Professor Snape shook his head, "No, not especially. It is worth keeping an eye on though, and trying not to worry about it. Over thinking is only likely to make the situation worse."

"Can I help here?" Umbridge said sweetly, walking quickly over to them.

Harry glared at her and fought the urge to cover his hand up, it was healed now but Harry still felt it prickle when she was close.

"No need Dolores," Professor Snape said pleasantly, "I was just discussing Mr Potter's latest potion."

"Well I would be happy to help with detention duties if you're busy." Umbridge offered.

"No." Harry snapped quickly, "I mean, it's not needed. Da… Professor Snape was just saying that he was fairly pleased with my work."

Professor Umbridge looked at Severus in shock, "Is this true, Severus?"

"Yes." Professor Snape said, smiling, "I am rather pleased with the overall standard of Mr Potter's work."

"Really? Well I must say I am surprised." Professor Umbridge smiled, "Mr Potter's work has been exceedingly poor in my class."

Professor Snape waved his hand dismissively, "There is very little connection between Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions after all. I am sure when my daughter comes to Hogwarts she will prove superior across all subjects."

Harry fought the urge to laugh, he could see Danica excelling, or blowing up the school just to see what happened…

"You are correct Professor Snape, there is little connection between the difficult subject of Defence Against the Dark Arts and playing around with cauldrons." Professor Umbridge said, still in her grating sing-song voice and smiling broadly.

"You may go and study Mr Potter." Severus said quickly, as Harry's mouth opened to snap at her.

"Thank you. Professor." Harry said through grated teeth.

He left his father and Umbridge in the middle of the hall, not looking behind him until he reached the Slytherin common room.

Harry rested his head against the cool wall, forcing himself to take several deep breaths.

"I'm surprised you didn't smack her there and then." Daphne said softly, "She was bang out of order saying those things, and interfering in the first place."

Harry turned around, "This is why we have to fight." he said quietly, "She's not going to stop, and her coming over like that showed me how… untouchable she thinks she is."

"Well we can learn what we need to from you." Draco said, "And we'll learn with you what you don't yet know. We taught ourselves loads while helping you last year."

Harry grinned, "Yeah."

"And if you end up in Voldemort's head again," Pansy smiled, "Sing a few lines of Mary had a little lamb, it'll go round his head for days."

Harry laughed, "Thanks guys."

He pulled them in for a hug, giving himself a minute to force his body to relax.

"Aww isn't it sweet?" Rodolphus said, pushing into Daphne's back to get passed.

Gemini rolled her eyes, "Pass me a bucket. It's disgusting, that sort of display in a public place."

Draco glared at her, "Ah yes, I forgot the Lestranges prefer this sort of thing without clothes on."

Gemini took a step forward, "You are a disgrace to the pure-blood name." she hissed, "You're all pathetic."

"Lay off Gemini, I can't be bothered with you today." Harry said, pushing passed her.

"You know what is wrong with you, Potter? You're weak, too busy trying not to get anyone hurt that you end up never acting. Your sort of thinking only ever ends one way, with blood." Gemini said calmly, "And I for one can't wait to see who bleeds first."

Harry watched her walk passed, taking deep breaths to stop himself from doing something stupid. She walked passed him calmly and disappeared up into the girls dorms.

"Don't let her get to you." Draco said.

Harry nodded, but it was too late. He fell asleep that night with Gemini's words, rolling round his mind.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

Harry didn't sleep well, at just before four in the morning Harry felt his stomach rumble. He climbed quietly out of bed and slipped his jumper on over his pyjamas before covering himself in the invisibility cloak.

The common room was empty, and it was easy to slip out, closing the door slowly behind him. He dodged the ghosts and made his way to the kitchens, hoping there was a house elf awake to give him something to eat.

“Harry Potter!” Dobby cried as soon as he pulled the invisibility cloak off.

“Hi Dobby.” Harry smiled, “How are you?”

“Dobby is well Harry Potter.” Dobby beamed, “Dobby loves working in the kitchens.”

“I'm glad.” Harry smiled, sitting down on a handy stool, “Getting on all right with all the other house elves? How's Winky?”

Dobby sighed, “Winky is sleeping sir, she is still drinking lots and does not want to work. Losing Mr Crouch has hurt her lots, and Masters Crouch even mores. Nots my place to says but they was bad folks.”

Harry nodded, “I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping that she would settle in more.”

“As was we all, Harry Potter.” Dobby sighed, “The other house elves and I is getting on well though. Dobby now has many friends, as well as Harry Potter of course.”

Harry grinned, “I'm glad.”

“What did Harry Potter wants?” Dobby asked, “You did come to the kitchens, and very lates at night… or earlies in the mornings…”

“I was wondering if I could get something to eat?” Harry smiled, “I couldn't sleep.”

Dobby beamed, “Yes yes of courses!!”

He ran over to the other side of the kitchen and brought Harry back a plate of scones, still warm from the oven with a large pot of strawberry jam and fresh butter.

“Thanks Dobby.” Harry said, taking a mouthful, “This is just what I needed.”

“If sir doesn't mind me asking, what is on sir's mind?” Dobby asked, hopping up on the bench next to Harry and helping himself to a scone.

Harry shrugged, “A lot. You're allowed to promise me you wont tell anyone?”

Dobby nodded, “Yes sir, Dobby is a free elf.”

Harry grinned, “Of course, sorry. Well Umbridge is a total… not nice person. She made me write into my own hand.” he showed Dobby the scar.

Dobby looked at it sadly, “We has had more than one student in here with a scar from that evils woman. Many house elves are refusing to clean her office! She is a disgrace to Hogwarts!”

Harry looked at him shocked, “I was holding on to the hope I was the only one she'd done this to!”

Dobby shook his head, his ears flapping slightly, “There have been many. With more and mores letters going missing before they gets to parents.”

Harry picked angrily at his scone, “Thank you, for helping them.”

“House elves are happy to help. We is loyal to Hogwarts sir.” Dobby smiled, “Is there anything else Harry Potter is worried about?”

“I need to find somewhere that can hold about thirty or more of us and is big enough for me to teach them all Defence Against the Dark Arts without letting Umbridge find out.” Harry sighed, “That seems pretty impossible currently.”

“Ooo!” Dobby cried, jumping up, “Dobby can help, Dobby knows!”

Harry put the scone down, “Dobby knows what?”

“Dobby knows where Harry Potter can teach his friends. Some call it the come and go room, others the Room of Requirement.” Dobby explained.

Harry's brain put the pieces together, “Wait, come and go? It doesn't happen to be on the seventh floor does it?”

Dobby nodded, “Yes Harry Potter. That is the one. It only appearers when the persons are in real need of it. And it is said to always be exactly what the persons need.”

“Where is it?” Harry asked, “Do you know where it is?”

Dobby nodded again, “Yes sir. Dobby has hidden Winky in there, when she has been very drunks and he has always found potions, to help with drunkness.”

Harry grinned madly, he felt like things were finally going right, if everything went the way he thought it would, if Dobby was right then he had found the perfect place to have the lessons.

“We coulds go now.” Dobby offered.

Harry looked at the kitchen clock, it still wasn't even five yet so the corridors would all still be empty, Harry nodded.

“I'll need to stay under my cloak, just in case.” Harry told him, wishing he'd brought the Marauders' Map with him.

Dobby nodded and led the way out of the kitchen. As predicted the corridors were still empty, the few ghosts that were around paid little attention to Dobby as he walked through the sleeping castle to the seventh floor.

They walked passed a large vase, easily big enough for someone to hide in, and to a blank stretch of wall.

“Dobby, there's nothing here.” Harry said carefully.

Dobby nodded and looked thoughtful, “Harry Potter needs to really really think about what you want. Dobby and Harry Potter walk passed thinkings and then...”

Dobby turned suddenly and beamed, “Ta da!”

Harry looked at the smooth wooden door that had definitely not been there just a moment before hand.

“Ok then...” Harry said, looking around to make sure no one was looking and pulled off the invisibility cloak, “That is kinda impressive.”

“Dobby has heard many tales of the come and go room.” Dobby said, pushing open the door.

Harry walked in and closed the door behind them. Inside was a fully stocked training room, it was larger than any other classroom, plenty of room for them to train all at once.

One wall was lined with books, Harry glanced over them seeing that they covered a wide range of topics, everything from defensive potions to the best attack spells.

Against the other wall was lined with several large dummies for practising on and a pile of soft silk cushions stacked in one corner.

“Dobby this is perfect!” Harry grinned, “I can get the word to everyone to meet here. It's not even on the Marauders map so I doubt Umbridge even knows it exists.”

“Does Harry Potter need Dobby to be telling everyone to come to the come and go room?” Dobby asked, after Harry had finished looking around.

Harry smiled, but shook his head, “Thanks, but it's OK. I’ll make sure the word gets round.”

Dobby flapped his ears, “Dobby should get back to the kitchens, it's getting on.”

Harry nodded, “Yes, sorry. I should go try and get some sleep anyway.”

Harry slipped the invisibility cloak back on and left the room, the large door vanishing as soon as they'd left the room.

“Harry!” Draco yelled, shaking him awake, “What is the matter with you?”

Harry blinked, rubbing his eyes before putting on his glasses, “What time is it?”

“It's passed breakfast, you've got ten minutes until classes start.” Draco explained, “I tried waking you up earlier but you were dead to the world, tried to smack me when I pulled your blanket off.”

Harry grinned, “Sorry.” he didn't remember it at all so he must have been dead to the world.

“Why were you so tired?” Draco asked, pulling Harry's robes out of his trunk and laying them on the bed.

Harry quickly got dressed, running a brush through his bed hair before leaving the dorm.

“I've got loads to tell you.” Harry whispered, gratefully taking the slightly cold toast that Daphne had saved for him, “I was up really last night, couldn't sleep, so I went to the kitchens hoping that I could get something to eat and Dobby told me about this, 'come and go room' that would be perfect for our training lessons.”

“Are you sure it's safe?” Draco asked, carefully, “It's just, well, Dobby isn't always the best judge of such things.”

Harry grinned, “You can say that again, my poor leg. But it's OK, I think I remember Dumbledore mentioning something and then there was the room that Sirius said Mum used when she was younger, I think it's all the same room. It's like an alive part of the school, it changes to whatever you need. It's not even on the Marauders' Map.”

“It sounds perfect.” Pansy smiled, “What's the catch?”

“I honestly don't think there is one. I think the world is finally giving us a break is all.”

“Look, there's the bell, we're going to have to go. Meet at break?” Daphne sighed

Harry nodded, “Yeah and tell everyone to meet up in the seventh floor study room tomorrow evening, eight o'clock. We need to get the word around.”

Harry followed his friends out of the Slytherin common room and begrudgingly headed for Divination. It annoyed him how much more he could get done if he didn't have to waste his time looking up and deciphering Ron's made up dreams.

Ever since Harry had told him he was over compensating for his brothers being better than him Harry was sure that the dreams were made up, no one really dreams of giant, dripping wet lemons while blushing madly and being awkward telling people about them.

Professor Trelawney was still in a furious mood, which also didn't help encourage Harry to sit down on the overly squishy arm chair and give Ron a small half smile. Professor Trelawney threw their books at them, Harry's skidding off the table.

“Well!” she snapped, “Get on with it.”

Harry waited until the class seemed distracted with their work before leaning closer to Ron.

“We've found somewhere to train.” Harry whispered.

Ron's interest peaked up, “Really?”

Harry nodded, “Yep. I need you to tell everyone you can, who was at the meeting, that they need to be in the seventh floor study room at eight o'clock tomorrow night.”

Ron nodded, “Yeah sure. Of course I will.”

“Only tell people who you'd run into normally, we can't draw attention to ourselves.” Harry reminded him, “And only tell people who were at the meeting, who signed that bit of parchment, if you think someone else would like to join, talk to me, Draco, Daphne, Pansy, Neville or Hermione.”

Ron nodded again.

“Well Mr Potter? What is your latest dream?” Professor Trelawney demanded, walking over.

“Ron was just telling me that the fact all my dreams seem to happen at night or in the evening means that I will almost certainly be dead before the year is out.” Harry said, smiling at Professor Trelawney.

Professor Trelawney looked a little taken aback, “Well done, Mr Weasley, you might actually be learning.”

Harry waited until she'd moved on to the next set of students before turning back to Ron.

“You lied really easily then.” Ron said, impressed.

Harry shrugged, “I'd already thought of something to say, I figured there was a chance she would come over and ask after all.”

“Seventh floor study room right?” Ron asked, “No one ever uses that any more, won't it look a bit odd?”

Harry shrugged, “We won’t be in there for very long, and there is very rarely a teacher there to watch over it. Besides, once you all know where it is, we can just go straight there in future.”

Ron nodded, “Ok. I’ll see you tomorrow night, if not before.”

Harry smiled and turned back to his work.

It was a cold day but he huddled up in his cloak and walked quickly to the meeting spot by the lake.

“The weather really isn't going to let us do this for much longer.” Hermione sighed, pulling her cloak a little closer.

Harry couldn't disagree there, “I know, but this is both important and time sensitive. Firstly, first defence lesson meeting is tomorrow at eight o'clock. Meet up at half seven in the seventh floor study room. Secondly, I need you to make a few adjustments to the curse you put on the parchment.”

Hermione nodded, “I really wish you wouldn't call it a curse.” she mumbled.

Harry ignored her, not to be mean but he needed to be quick, feeling his toes was starting to get difficult they were so cold, and it wouldn't be long until the bell rang, summoning them all back into class.

“I need you to make some sort of effect or mark on whoever introduced the snitch to the group's face as well.” Harry said, “So when we tell them they have everyone to think about, and will think twice before inviting just anyone.”

Hermione nodded, “It seems harsh.”

“We need to be sure, someone might think they're worth the risk because the curse might not be real but they'll think twice if their friends could suffer as well.” Harry said, “I just know it's going to end badly for all of us if she finds out, I have this really sickening feeling.”

Hermione smiled, “I trust you.”

Harry grinned, “Right, the next thing is we need to be able to tell people, just us six, but we need to be exempt from the curse, what if there are new members?”

“That's already the case.” Hermione said, “I can also add more people onto the exempt bit if we need to. And I know how to remove any effects if needs be as well.”

“Brilliant,” Harry nodded, “Right, spread the word about the first meeting and I’ll see you later.”

He stood up gratefully and heading inside.

“Hem hem.” Professor Umbridge said the moment they were through the door, stepping out from the shadows, “I believe that you have broken Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four.”

“Not at all Professor Umbridge.” Neville said.

Umbridge looked less than happy at being told she was wrong, “Unless I am very much mistaken, any group of three or more students that has not been approved is prohibited.”

“Any regularly meeting group.” Neville corrected her, “Besides, Prefects have already sorted and received permission to talk to students about their behaviour in larger groups. Mr Potter and Miss Greengrass have had a small drop in grades, we wanted to ask if there was anything we could do to help.”

Professor Umbridge gave them a tight smile, “I see. How inter house friendly of you. And is there anything we can do to help?”

Harry shook his head, “Not really, Hogwarts just feels very… hostile, it's effecting my ability to think. If that's all Professor, we should be getting to class. Professor McGonagall doesn't like students being late.”

Professor Umbridge moved out their way and stalked back towards her office.

“How did you know my grades had dropped?” Daphne asked.

Neville smirked, “I read over your shoulder last time we were in the library, a whole one percent lower than last year! Miss Greengrass your parents would be shocked!”

“I hate you.” Daphne grinned, pushing open the door to Transfiguration.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven

The next day was bright and clear, but the air seemed tense, like there was a storm on the way. The atmosphere was not helped by the increasing worry Harry had over that evening’s activities.

By half seven he was relieved to be doing something, walking calmly up the steps towards the seventh floor. He went to the old, disused study room where his friends were waiting, Daphne had refused to sit down on the grubby looking chairs and was pacing around waiting for Harry.

“You're here.” Draco grinned, quickly shutting his book.

Harry nodded, “And the coast is clear.” he said, holding up the map.

Harry could feel himself worry, starting to doubt he had somehow dreamt about the perfect room for them to study in.

“Harry, there's nothing there.” Daphne said after a moment.

“We need to think about what we need, a place to train.” Harry said, as confidently as he could.

He led them passed the blank wall, thinking as hard as he could on the room he'd seen before.

“Oh my gods.” Draco gasped.

Harry grinned, he could of jumped for joy at the sight of the large wooden door that had appeared in the wall.

“This is not normal.” Neville said quietly, walking towards the door.

“We go to a magic school, what exactly is normal any more?” Hermione laughed.

Harry pushed open the door and showed them the fully equipped training room inside.

“Look at all these books!” Draco and Hermione said together.

Harry smirked, “Yeah, I thought you might like those.”

“There is literally everything we could possibly need in here.” Daphne said, looking around, “Where does it all come from?”

Harry wasn't sure about that, and hadn't thought to ask Dobby, “I'm not sure, maybe it's all stuff other people have left? Like lost property from a thousand years. I’m pretty sure that broken Foe Glass was in the fake Professor Moody's office last year.”

“Do you think any of it might be missed? We can't draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves and if those books have come from the library...” Pansy said.

“They haven't.” Hermione said, “The library copy of 'One hundred and one effective curses' has a large blue ink stain on page five and I’ve never even seen this section of books.”

Pansy nodded reassured. Harry moved some of the pillows over to the other side of the room as well and made sure that there was a large enough space before checking his watch and pulling out the Marauders Map.

“Filch is down stairs in the Dungeons, Umbridge is in her office… in fact the seventh floor is completely clear.” Harry said, “I'll go get everyone then.”

He left the room before they could argue and walked and quickly as he could to the study room. It was filled with more students than Harry was sure it had seen in a hundred years.

“All here?” he asked, looking to make sure there was no one obviously missing, “Follow me. Now watch for land marks and stuff as I'll need you all to meet straight in the Come and Go room next time.”

“And what exactly is the 'Come and Go room?” Zacharias Smith sniffed, “That has never been there before...” he said, catching sight of the door.

“You created a whole room Harry?” Cho said impressed.

Harry smiled, a warm glow in his stomach, “Not exactly.”

He opened the door and stepped aside as the students filed in. Daphne, Draco, Pansy and Neville had all arranged themselves at the far end of the room, a clear spot for Harry in the middle. Hermione was more off to one side, looking very awkward and pretending to read.

As soon as the last person was in Harry closed the door and tapped the lock with his wand. He was very aware of all eyes being on him as he walked through the students to the end of the room.

“Well, first of all thank you for coming, sorry you all had to wait in that horrible study room but from now on, we will just meet right here. If the door isn't here when you get here just think of how much you need this room and walk past the wall.” Harry said, taking a deep breath, next was the hard part, “The next thing, a very important thing to… discuss, is...” Harry cleared his throat and shot a glance at Hermione, “I told Hermione to put a curse, a binding spell of sorts, on the parchment you all signed.”

There was a murmur of shock and several people looked furiously between Hermione and Harry.

“It'll do you no harm as long as you don't tell anyone about this, me teaching you all. It won't do any huge harm, just mark you as the one who ratted us out, or introduced the person who ratted us out.” Harry continued, “Don't fool yourselves, what we're doing is dangerous. If Umbridge were to find out, well lets just say I don't think she'd be very happy.”

“You all saw the new 'Educational Decree' about no clubs or groups,” Daphne said, “this is the cause; she found out, somehow, and wants to stop us from learning to defend ourselves. We can not allow that.”

“I realise it was wrong, not to tell you all about the curse. So anyone who wants to leave can do so. We'll remove your name from the parchment and make your memories fuzzy around this meeting so you can't tell anyone.” Harry told them.

No one stepped forward for a moment before Ron, looking nervously at Fred and George, went over.

“Mum has said I’m to have nothing to do with any of this.” he mumbled.

“Ron!” George snapped, in a rare flash of anger, “Are you seriously stepping away from this? You'll fail your O.W.L.”

Ron blushed, “Mum says-”

“Mum says.” Fred and George whined together.

“If Ron wants to leave he can.” Harry snapped. He was disappointed; he thought better of Ron, and that was saying something.

Ron, shame faced, walked over to Hermione who gave him a quill to trace over his name, it disappeared with every movement he made, leaving a small gap in the list of names. Draco and Daphne then placed their wands to Ron's head and muttered the spell, leading him out of the room.

“Is he going to be OK?” Fred asked.

Harry nodded, “He'll be fine. He's on his way to the Gryffindor common room. He'll remember going somewhere, just not anything else.”

Fred and George nodded, melting back into the crowd, a couple of other students also stepped forward, and removed their names, including Cho's friend Marietta.

Harry was pleased only a few left, he had had visions of everyone leaving, furious that he could of tricked them like that, but he hadn't wanted to drop Hermione in everyone's bad books either.

“Right well, thank you all those that stayed.” Harry said, clapping his hands together, “We should get started.”

“We should have a leader.” Ginny said, moving to the front of the crowd.

“Is it really just Ron that your mum doesn't want doing this?” Neville asked in confusion.

“No, she sent the same letter to all of us.” George said.

“We're just ignoring it.” Fred grinned.

“Well, ok then.” Neville smirked.

“I think Ginny is right, we should decide on a leader.” Hermione said.

“Harry should be our leader.” Cho said quickly.

Harry felt himself blush and smiled at her, “Well thank you but-”

“Cho's right.” Ginny nodded, “You're the one teaching us.”

“Here here.” William smiled.

There was a murmur of agreement around the room.

“Ok. Thank you.” Harry said humbly.

“We should also have a name.” Ginny said, “So we have some way to talk about it that isn't 'that secret defence group with Potter training us to do all the spells that the Ministry don't want us to know'. It might make us a bit obvious.” she grinned.

Harry smirked, “Well I’m open to suggestions.”

“The Anti-Umbridge League?” Angelina said hopefully.

“Or 'The Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?” Fred grinned.

Harry snorted a laugh, “While I think they are both wonderful suggestions, I don't think they are the most deceiving of names.”

Cho coughed slightly, “How about something simple, like 'The Defence Association?” she suggested, “The DA for short, that way no one will know what we're talking about.”

Harry tried not to blush, or be over dramatic over what a good idea it was, “That's good.” he said, managing to keep his voice level.

Cho smiled, “Thanks Harry.”

Harry gave her a smile back.

“Let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army though.” Ginny pipped up, looking quickly between Harry and Cho, “I mean, that's what they're all afraid of isn't it?”

Harry nodded, the DA also worked for Danica's Army, although Harry thought it best Danica never found out she had an army at her finger tips, even if that was the name that stuck in his head. After all, it was her he was trying to make the world better for most of all.

“Ok then.” Harry said, “The DA?” he quickly counted the hands, “That's over half of us.”

He walked over to the parchment which had all their names on and wrote, 'The DA' in large letters at the top before pinning it to the wall.

Harry looked around the room of faces waiting for him to do something, “Right so, I think that's everything. Any more questions?”

The room was quiet, a few people shaking their heads.

“We're going to start today with something simple. This is not only a really useful spell to know, it will also help me gauge where you're all up to. Expelliarmus.”

Zacharias Smith snorted, “Seriously? I mean, it's hardly going to do us any good against You-Know-Who.”

Harry gritted his teeth, “If you think it's beneath you, the door is over there, make sure it hits you on the way out. We don't have time for everyone picking and choosing which spells they want to learn. And for your information, that spell saved my life in June.”

Zacharias looked stunned and slightly ashamed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, “Sorry.” he mumbled.

Harry took a deep breath, “Look, I know that most of you, including us,” he said gesturing to his friends, “have been brought up to fear Voldemort as some sort of monster, unstoppable. He isn't. Voldemort is nothing more than a wizard who practised, researched and had fewer morals than the rest of us… he went to school here in fact, and worked hard. It doesn't matter what spell he is trying to use, if he doesn't have his wand, it's NOT going to work at full strength at best. There's no evidence that Voldemort has any use of wandless magic.” Harry wasn't sure that was all strictly true, he certainly didn't think of Voldemort as just another wizard but it was what they needed to hear, “He's not some monster, or goblin or undefeatable foe, he went to this school. His name was Tom Riddle, until he changed it to scare people.”

“It's a bit pathetic when you think about it.” Pansy sniffed, “I mean how scary can you actually be if you need to give yourself a scary name?”

There was a ripple of laughter around the room before people seemed to realise they were laughing about Voldemort and stopped themselves.

“Right.” Harry said, smirking himself, “Let's get started, pair up everyone and on my count of three.”

He stood at the end of the room, reflecting on how weird it was to have his orders followed without question.

There was enough people for everyone to have a partner, leaving Harry free to simply watch and correct.

“Everyone ready?” Harry said, “One… Two… Three!”

The room was filled with shouts of Expelliarmus as wands went flying, bouncing softly to the floor Harry noticed, another gift from the room.

“Ok, that looked really good.” Harry nodded, “I'm going to try and watch each pair in turn so those of you who lost your wands, go and get them.”

Harry wasn't surprised to see that most of the students still had their wands. He wandered to the closest pair, Daphne and Pansy.

Daphne was just quicker and sent Pansy's wand flying from her hand before summoning it back for her friend. Harry nodded and watched them try again, this time it was Pansy who succeeded.

“You two seem very well matched.” He commented. Harry thought about how well they would work against someone rather than against each other; he was sure he wouldn't want to go up against them.

Hermione had the slight upper hand against Fred, although Fred was still managing to disarm her when she was even slightly distracted.

“That's really good guys.” Harry said encouragingly, before moving on.

Draco was next, lazily flicking his wand and disarming Ginny, so far she hadn't managed to be quick enough once.

“Go easy on her.” Harry muttered to Draco with a smirk, “Here Ginny, try flicking your wrist a little more sharply.” he said showing her.

Ginny smiled and nodded, turning back to Draco, from the squeal of excitement she made, Harry guessed correctly that she'd managed the spell.

Harry spotted Cho and walked, calmly, towards her.

“Hi Harry.” She smiled. She was practising against Mandy Brocklehurst, another Ravenclaw in Harry's year.

“Hi.” He blushed, before not knowing what else to say so nodding for them to continue, Cho turned back to Mandy,

“Expelliarmus!” She said. Mandy's wand gave a slight shake but stayed in her hand.

“I was managing it before.” Cho said, “You've put me off.” she smiled.

Harry smirked, “I didn't realise I was so distracting.”

Mandy rolled her eyes at their obvious flirting.

“I'd better carry on.” Cho said.

Harry nodded, “Yeah, yep. Umm you're both doing really well, I was watching you over there as well. Just keep practising.”

Harry turned to walk away but felt a tap on his shoulder, Cho looked a little awkwardly at him.

“I just wanted to say thank you, for telling us about the curse. I nagged Marietta to come with me, she's been told by her parents not to upset Umbridge, she's making it really difficult for her Mum at the Ministry. It meant that she could leave without… I’d just hate for anything to happen to her because of me.” Cho said softly.

Harry nodded, “I'm sorry Umbridge is making life difficult for her. You two always seem to be together.” he said, unsure of what to say.

Cho nodded, “I was so upset, after… Cedric… she was the only one who still wanted to be my friend while I was crying all the time.” Cho gave a rather forced laugh.

Harry nodded, “Yeah, I know my friends have helped me a lot, not really sure what I’d do without them. What about your parents?”

Cho shrugged, “They've forbidden me from getting on the wrong side of Umbridge as well, but if they think that I'm not going to fight You-Know-Who after what he did to Cedric...” she said fiercely.

Harry nodded, “Good for you.”

William was managing fairly well against Neville but they were well matched, managing to disarm the other evenly, although Harry suspected that Neville was a little quicker, managing to disarm William two out of three times.

Over all the first lesson went very well. Apart from a couple of students they all were able to send their opponents wands flying.

“That's really good, well done everyone.” Harry said, “I'm very impressed.”

“Before you all go.” Hermione said, pulling a box out of her bag, “Daphne, Pansy and I have managed to come up with an easier way to get the word round when we have lessons.”

She opened the box, which appeared to be filled with galleons.

Daphne picked one up and held it in front of her, “These are, actually, pretty brilliant, and will let us be able to tell you when the next meet up is, we'll always meet here. You will need to keep checking these numbers, they're normally the serial numbers but these ones will have the time and date of the next meeting.”

“That's really clever.” George said, impressed.

“Hermione came up with the idea.” Pansy said.

Hermione blushed, “Well, I couldn't of finished them so quickly without help.”

Harry dug out his map, quickly checking the corridor was clear for them to all get out, “Right, we'll try and meet at least once a week, as said, everyone take a coin on your way out, and make sure you don't spend it by mistake!”

He waited until everyone else had left before leaving the room himself, the door melting back into wall as soon as they were clear of it.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Eight

The next few weeks, Harry felt lighter than he had in months. He kept his coin close to him at all times, normally keeping it in his shirt pocket, it's gentle weight strangely comforting to him.

Umbridge never stopped looking for any excuse to send Harry back to detention, deepening the cuts on his hand which he was still some how managing to hide from Severus, with a lot of help from his friends.

The DA meeting were going better and better, Pavati Patil had managed such a successful Reductor Curse she'd reduced the table, covered in Sneakoscopes, to dust.

It had been impossible to fix a regular night for the DA lessons between study groups and all four houses having Quidditch practice that frequently moved due to the weather. Harry however thought that it was probably for the best, no routine that Umbridge or Filch could spot and catch them out with.

October brought with it the first Quidditch match of the season which didn't bring Harry much happiness, as he knew he wouldn't be playing.

Miles Bletchley had apologised to Harry again for having to drop him from the team, but Umbridge glaring down at him from the teachers table every time he was in the Great Hall let Harry know Miles had made the correct decision.

Slytherin won, not only had Ron taken to dropping the quaffle more than normal Draco had managed to grab the snitch within quarter of an hour, beating the school record.

The Slytherin common room was, unsurprisingly, full of celebrations that evening. Harry drank his butterbeer and smiled but he felt strangely separate from it all.

It was late that night when he felt his bracelet warm up. He snuck up to the dorm and grabbed his invisibility cloak and the went up to the Gryffindor common room.

Neville was sitting outside, reading a book and keeping an eye on the corridor. Harry tapped him on the knee.

"It's me" Harry whispered.

"Hagrid's back." Neville said.

Harry whipped off the invisibility cloak, "Are you sure?"

Neville nodded quickly, "Pretty sure. His hut has lights on and there's smoke coming from the chimney."

Harry felt his heart leap, Hagrid coming home had to be a good sign, and with Hagrid being known for letting things slip they might actually have a chance at getting some answers.

"Do you guys want to come?" Harry asked.

Neville nodded, "Yeah. I'll go and get Hermione. The common room is dead this evening, unsurprisingly. Will we all fit under your cloak?"

Harry nodded, "If we crouch down."

Neville left Harry alone in the corridor for a minute before reappearing with a worried looking Hermione.

"There's still smoke and lights on." Hermione said, forcing a smile.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged, "It's just… well we're not meant to be out of our common rooms this late are we. What if Umbridge catches us? We could get Hagrid into trouble as well."

Harry couldn't argue there, this was a risk but it also felt like a risk he needed to take.

"We'll be careful." Neville shrugged, "I mean you can stay here if you'd rather."

Hermione shook her head firmly and tucked herself under the invisibility cloak. Harry was very grateful that they wanted to go with him, as they slowly made their way through the long winding corridors to the front door. It wasn't locked so they were able to slip out into the cool nights air.

Harry didn't risk taking the invisibility cloak off until they were right at Hagrid's front door, despite the three of them frequently stepping on one another's feet.

Harry knocked loudly on the door and stepped back. Great, loud foot steps and the sound of Fang barking confirmed that Hagrid was home.

"Should'a expected you." Hagrid said, silhouetted against the door, "Come on in."

Harry, Neville and Hermione quickly made their way into the warm hut. Hermione looked at Hargid's face and screamed.

"Keep it down!" Hagrid hissed, using putting the kettle on the stove as an excuse to turn away.

"Hagrid… what on earth happened?" Harry asked, not wanting to point at the large black and purple bruise covering most of Hagrid's face, his hair matted with blood and his left eye reduced to little more than a slit the swelling was so bad.

Harry looked over Hagrid, it was clear that the blow to his face was not the only injury he had been subjected to, his hands were covered in cuts and bruises, many of which hadn't even stopped bleeding. He was also moving awkwardly, Harry suspected broken ribs.

"It's nuthin." Hagrid said, giving them all large mugs of tea.

"Hagrid you can't be serious!" Neville cried, "Nothing?!"

"I'll tell Mum." Harry said quickly, as Hagrid had opened his mouth to speak again.

" 'Arry-"

"I mean it." Harry said firmly, "It's clear you've been attacked and if you don't tell us what happened I'll tell Mum what a state you're in. You know as well as I do she'll be here in a second if she knew."

Hagrid sighed and flopped down in the chair opposite them, wincing slightly.

"I really will be all righ'." he told them.

Hermione shook her head, "You should go and see Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm dealing with it." Hagrid said. He pulled over a covered plate, removing the tea towel Harry could see it was a large, funny looking, slab of meat.

"You're not going to eat that are you?" Hermione asked, wrinkling her nose, "It looks… well, poisonous."

"It's dragon meat isn't it?" Harry said, "Dad needed some for a potion once and showed me and Danica. It isn't good for you though, Danica poked it and Mum made her wash her hands for ten minutes."

"I ain't goin' ta eat it." Hagrid smiled, slapping the dragon meat on his swollen eye, " 'elps with the stingin'."

Hermione got up and filled a bowl with water and grabbed a cloth from under the sink, as well as a bar of soap.

"I'll start getting some of this muck and blood out of your hair, if you like." Hermione smiled, "You've got a lot of cuts, you'll get an infection if you're not careful."

Hagrid nodded, "Thanks."

"So are you going to tell us what happened?" Neville asked.

"I can't." Hagrid said firmly, "Top secret, more'n me job's worth ter tell yeh."

Hermione rung the now bloody cloth out in the bowl of water, Harry watched as the clear water turned pink and felt a shiver run up his spine.

"Did the giants beat you up?" Hermione asked quietly.

Hagrid turned to look at her, "Giants? Who… who said anythin' abou' giants? Who yeh bin talkin' to?"

"We worked it out." Hermione said, apologetically, "No one told us anything."

"Did yeh?" Hagrid said, glaring at her, through his good eye.

"It was kind of… obvious." Harry said.

Hagrid shook his head, "I never knew kids like you lot for getting' information that you shouldna have. And I ain't complimentin' yeh neither. Nosy, some'd call it. Interferin'."

Harry grinned, he knew Hagrid well enough to know he didn't mean it. Harry was pretty sure that Hagrid was rather proud of them and their investigating skills.

"So you were looking for giants?" Harry smiled, "And I assume you found them." he gestured to the state Hagrid was in.

Hagrid shrugged, "Well they ain't exactly 'ard to find. Pretty big, see."

"Where are they?" Hermione asked.

"Mountains." Hagrid said, rather unhelpfully.

"Anything more specific?" Hermione pushed, changing the water in the bowl.

Hagrid ignored her, "So wha' abou' you guys? 'Ow'd your holidays go?"

"I'll tell you about the Dementors if you tell us about the giants?" Harry bargained.

Hagrid's eye grew wide, "Dementors?"

"You didn't know?" Harry asked, he assumed Dumbledore would of told Hagrid about what had happened.

Hagrid shook his head and winced, "No. I ain't 'ad much contact wi' anyone. So wha' happened?"

"Me and Danica were playing in a playground while Mum went shopping and then it got all cold and dark so we headed back to Mum and two Dementors swooped down out of nowhere at us." Harry told him, "I sent them off, I didn't think about who was around, the Dementors were my more pressing concern. We got home, after a very nasty smack to my head, and had a stupid letter from the Ministry that kinda said I was expelled, followed by another one from Mr Weasley saying that Dumbledore had made me un-expelled until after a hearing at the Ministry, he spoke, Umbridge glared, although I didn't know who she was at the time. And in the end Dumbledore won, Fudge got more grumpy and I came back to school. So giants?"

Hagrid took a large gulp of tea. Harry listened avidly as Hagrid told them about his and Madam Maxime's trip. It had started looking like they would be successful, the giant chief was taking warmly to their gifts. Unfortunately one night he was killed and the successor wasn't as friendly towards them and then the Death Eaters turned up.

"Anyone you recognised?" Hermione asked.

Hagrid shrugged, "There was a couple but only recognised Macnair, he was at Buckbeak's trial."

"So what took you so long? You only stayed three days but you've been gone months." Harry asked, carefully slipping his uneaten rock cake under the table for Fang to chew on.

"Well we couldna just give up." Hagrid scoffed, "Dumbledore was countin' on us. So we went round the littla caves, spoke to come o' the ones who couldna be 'round the new Gurg. They were pretty bea' up but I think we got through to a couple o' them." Hagrid shrugged.

Hermione had finished washing the blood from Hagrid's face and hair and was starting to cover the open cuts with a thin layer of the strong smelling purple cream before covering them in bandages.

"And you managed?" Hermione asked, "You got them on our side?"

Hagrid shrugged again, "Yeah, I think anyway. Weren' so worried 'bout the giants to be 'onest. It were there Death Eaters see, they were tryin' to follow us and Dumbledore 'ad said we weren' to go at 'em unless we 'ad to."

"I'm assuming that didn't go entirely to plan." Neville pointed out, gesturing to the state Hagrid was in.

"No, but that happene' later." Hagrid sighed, "Thanks Hermione, for fixin' me up."

"You're very welcome." Hermione said, putting the things away and sliding into the seat next to Neville.

"So are the giants on their way? They're coming to help?" Harry asked. He'd never seen a real giant and was curious to see one.

"No. The Gurg swept all tha caves after a couple of days. Killed 'em all off." Hagrid rubbed his head, "I figure some o' 'em that's left might get the message, remember Dumbledore was good to 'em, once…"

"You still haven't told us how you got attacked." Harry pointed out.

Hagrid shook his head, "I 'aven't bin."

Hermione picked at her nails for a few moments before leaning forward on the table, "Did… did you find your Mother? Or any sign of her?"

Hagrid looked over Hermione with his uninjured eye.

"Sorry. I shouldn't of asked." Hermione said quickly.

"She's dead." Hagrid grunted, shuffling awkwardly in his chair, wincing in pain, "Died years ago they told me."

"Oh Hagrid." Neville said, "I'm so sorry."

"No need." Hagrid sniffed, "Can't remember her much. Wasn' a great mother."

They sat nervously while the seconds ticked by.

Harry sighed, "Will you please tell us who attacked you?"

Hagrid opened his mouth to object again when there was a loud knock on the door. Harry, Hermione and Neville jumped.

"Get under yeh cloak." Hagrid hissed.

Harry pulled their mugs under the table and hid behind Fang's bed, Hagrid making sure that they were all covered before limping towards the door.

He swung it open and looked down at the squat little figure of Umbridge.

"So, you're Hagrid, are you?" Professor Umbridge sniffed, looking him up and down.

She pushed passed him, looking around the cabin with a wrinkled nose.

"Get away!" She shirked at Fang, who was jumping up to say hello.

Hagrid grabbed Fang's collar and told him to go to his bed, "I don' want ter be rude, but who the ruddy hell are you?"

"My name is Dolores Umbridge." her eyes were darting around the cabin, twice they landed on Harry before moving on.

Hagrid limped back to his chair, blocking her direct view to Harry, Neville and Hermione, "Dolores Umbridge? Weren' you one o' them Ministry lot?"

Umbridge forced a smile, "Yes. I was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. I am now the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." she said, continuing to look around the cabin.

"Tha's brave of yeh." Hagrid scoffed, "Not many'd take tha' job any more."

Umbridge ignored him, "I am also, of course, Hogwarts High Inquisitor."

Hagrid shuffled painfully in his seat, "Wha's that?"

"I heard voices." Umbridge said.

"Wha' yeh mean?" Hagrid asked, frowning at her in confusion.

"Before I came in, I could hear voices while I was waiting on the step." Umbridge said tightly.

"I was talkin' ter Fang." Hagrid shrugged.

Umbridge let out an annoying tinkly laugh, "And it was talking back?"

Hagrid shrugged, "Well… I do sometimes say Fang's near enough 'uman." he looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Well that would make one of you." Umbridge muttered under her breath, "There are three sets of footprints leading up to you… house." Umbridge pointed out.

"I on'y jus' got back." Hagrid said, "Maybe someone came ter see me earlier an' I missed 'em."

Umbridge kept her painfully fake smile, "There are no foot prints leading away." she whispered.

"Well… I… erm..." Hagrid pulled at his beard.

Umbridge dumped her handbag down, loudly on the table, and stomping around the cabin, she even went as far as to look in the kitchen cupboards and under Hagrid's bed. Hermione had her hand clamped over her mouth to stop herself from breathing too loudly.

"How did you come by those injuries?" Umbridge demanded, turning back to Hagrid.

"I tripped." Hagrid said flatly.

"You tripped?" Umbridge said coolly, "So… it was… an accident?"

Hagrid nodded, wincing as he bent his neck.

"I see." Umbridge smiled.

"Yeah. I tripped over a friend's broomstick. I don' fly meself. Well, look at the size o' me, o don' reckon there's a broom that'd hold me. Friend o' mine breeds Abraxan horses, I donno if you've ever seen 'em, big beasts, winged, yeh know, I've had a bit o' a ride one one 'o 'em an' it was-"

Umbridge cut across him, "Where have you been?" she asked.

"Where've I..." Hagrid stuttered.

"Been, yes." Umbridge said, "The current term started two months ago, another teacher has had to cover your classes. None of your colleagues have been… willing to give me any information as to your whereabouts. You left no address, so where have you been?"

Hagrid glared at her, Harry was silently praying that Hagrid would be able to come up with a good excuse.

"I… I've been away for me health." Hagrid said.

Professor Umbridge looked over Hagrid's bloody and swollen face, "For your health?" she repeated, "I see."

Hagrid nodded, "Yeh, bit o' fresh air, yeh know?"

Umbridge let out another tinkly laugh, "Yes, well as gamekeeper, fresh air must be so difficult to come by." She said sweetly.

"Well… I mean' change o' scenery." Hagrid covered quickly.

"Mountain scenery?" Umbridge asked.

Harry stiffened, she knows, he thought, how can she know?

"Mountains?" Hagrid asked, thinking fast, "Nope. South o' France fer me. Bit o' sun an' sea."

"You don't have much of a tan." Umbridge sniffed.

"Sensitive skin," Hagrid said, forcing a smile.

Umbridge looked over him coldly, "I see." She picked up her handbag and tucked it safely in the crook of her arm, "I will of course be forced to inform the Minister of you very late return."

"Righ'." Hagrid nodded.

"You ought to know, too, that as High Inquisitor, it is my unfortunate but necessary duty to inspect my fellow teachers. So I dare say we shall meet again soon enough."

She didn't bother waiting for Hagrid to respond but turned on her heels and click clacked her way out of the cabin. Hagrid waited until she was well clear before bolting the door and pulling the cloak off them.

"She's inspectin' people?" Hagrid asked, double checking out the window that she was really gone.

Harry nodded, "Yeah she's 'pruning what ought to be prohibited'."

"Umm, what sort of thing are you planning to do with us in class?" Hermione asked, "It's just she can be very… she has a very strict idea of teaching."

Hagrid waved his hand dismissively, "I got a great load o' lessons planned out. Don' you worry."

Hermione decided it would be best not to push the issue, Hagrid was clearly tired and could do with a good nights sleep.

"We should head off." Hermione said, "Just try and stick to boring stuff that should come up in our O.W.L. Umbridge is determined to get rid of any teacher who likes Dumbledore."

Hagrid smiled and gave her a gentle hug, "Don't worry 'bout it. Make sure you wipe away your footprints as you go."

Harry nodded and said goodbye before heading back up to the castle, hidden under the invisibility cloak with Hermione magically wiping away their footprints; the snow was starting to fall again anyway though, so the trail would be completely covered in an hour.

Harry dropped them off at the Gryffindor common room before, sadly, walking back alone to the Slytherin dorm. He thought Hagrid being back would make him feel better but now it was just another thing he was sure Umbridge was going to ruin.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Nine

The common room was still in party mode, although Harry had seen Severus heading towards the common room on his way out and told Draco, Daphne and Pansy it might be time to head to bed.

Harry pulled on his pyjamas and made sure the invisibility cloak was safely once more tucked at the bottom of his trunk.

Crabbe and Goyle were asleep and snoring loudly, Zabini was still down stairs at the party.

"Hagrid's back." Harry said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, climbing into bed.

Harry nodded, "Yeah. That's why Hermione and Neville activated the bracelets."

"You went to see him?" Draco hissed, "Why didn't you take us?"

Harry shrugged, his being jealous of Draco and Daphne still being able to play Quidditch seemed like a pathetic reason to leave them out, "We wouldn't of all managed to fit under the cloak and I didn't know that Hagrid was back until I was at the Gryffindor common room. It was a good job that we didn't come back for you, Umbridge nearly caught us anyway."

"How? It's passed midnight already." Draco whispered, "Her room is in the middle of the castle, how did she know he was back?"

Harry shrugged, the thought had crossed his mind that it was strange Umbridge had been aware of Hagrid's return so soon, and so late at night.

"Fill us in in the morning." Draco smiled, he knew Harry wasn't in the best head space right now and didn't want to cause a fight.

The next morning he felt bad but wanted to avoid having to talk about it again. Draco was already up and dressed. Harry dressed quickly and smiled.

"Come on, let's go and get some breakfast. We can fill the girls in." Harry smiled.

It was fairly quiet in the Great Hall, most of the school choosing to have a lie in on a Sunday morning, especially after a Quidditch game. Harry, Draco, Daphne and Pansy were easily able to find seats away from everyone else.

"Hagrid's back." Daphne said cheerfully, spotting him at the teachers table.

Harry was relieved to see that Hagrid was there, even if his face was still black and blue with several, large cuts. Umbridge was also at the table, sending nasty looks towards Hagrid when she thought no one was looking.

"We know." Draco smirked, "Harry went down to see him last night."

Harry felt a guilty hot pit form in his stomach at the hurt looks from Daphne and Pansy. He quickly started to butter a piece of toast so he didn't have to look at them.

"Is this true?" Pansy asked.

Harry nodded, "Yeah. It wasn't on purpose."

"How could you of gone and seen Hagrid late at night by accident?" Daphne inquired.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Not like that. I felt the bracelet system activate and I guess you guys were all distracted with the party. I just went to find out if everything was OK, then they said Hagrid was back and, well it would of meant coming all the way back down to the Slytherin common room and trying to find you all. Besides, we wouldn't of all fitted under the invisibility cloak."

Pansy and Daphne accepted this explanation and nodded.

"So?" Pansy asked, "Why was he away?"

Harry looked around, he didn't feel comfortable telling them here, where people could be listening in.

"I'll tell you later." Harry sighed, making a pointed glance up to Umbridge.

"How did he get so beaten up?" Draco asked.

"Well that we don't know, so I can't even tell you later." Harry said, "He was very dodgy over the subject. He..." Harry looked around, there was no one even walking passed, "He did run into Death Eaters but I don't think they're the ones that attacked him."

"Umbridge is going to make his life hell, isn't she?" Daphne said.

Harry nodded, "I think so. She was in such a mood when she went down to Hagrid's last night." he whispered, "She even looked under his bed for… something."

"That's ever so slightly worrying." Pansy said.

"Why? Got something under your bed you want to hide?" Draco smirked.

Pansy glared at him and picked up a bit of toast to throw at him.

"Miss Parkinson." Professor Umbridge said, walking over surprisingly quickly, "Tut tut."

Pansy slowly lowered the toast, "Sorry Professor? Draco asked for some toast."

"Hem hem." Umbridge said, letting out a tinkly laugh, "Well, I think in future he can get his own toast. If I see you 'passing' food again, you will be seeing me for detention. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." Pansy said, with an overly forced smile.

"Mr Potter, you are good friends with Mr Hagrid are you not?" Umbridge asked.

Harry nodded, not wanting to say anything that she could twist.

"You first met him when you came to school?" Umbridge asked a little more forcefully.

Harry shook his head, "No, no; Mum knew him before I was born. I met him quite a few times over the years, we'd come for picnics and the like."

"Well I don't think that that is entirely appropriate but no matter." Umbridge said, waving her hand, "You know him well then?"

Harry nodded again, giving her a tight smile, painfully aware of where this was going.

"So you know why he's so very late back to his teaching post." Professor Umbridge beamed.

Harry shook his head, "No I'm afraid I don't."

"Does the south of France mean anything to you?" Umbridge pushed, "where Hagrid is concerned?"

"Afraid not." Harry said levelly.

"It does to me." Daphne said, sharing a sideways look with Pansy.

Harry felt his heart begin to race, what could they be getting at? Umbridge beamed and moved closer to her.

"Do tell my dear." Umbridge asked sweetly.

"Well it was clear he became very close with Madam Maxime and Beauxbatons is in France is it not?" Daphne smirked, "I think he was off visiting his lady love." she said, taking a sip of tea.

"For all this time?" Umbridge asked, her face falling.

"Well I imagine they often lost track of time." Pansy giggled into her napkin.

"That is enough of that talk!" Umbridge snapped, looking horrified.

She looked between the four of them and turned on her heel. They waited until Umbridge had left the hall, making sure she'd turned the corner before rolling their eyes.

"What on earth would she make me carve into my skin for throwing food?" Pansy snorted with disdain.

"Maybe she wouldn't, maybe she'd make you write 'pass' with the quotation marks." Daphne laughed.

"Quick thinking on the Hagrid front." Harry smiled, "I think with any luck you'll of thrown her off the scent for a while."

They spent the rest of the day in the library working with Neville and Hermione on their ever growing pile of homework. Hermione took an hour or two out to go and see Hagrid again, to try and make sure that he was going to follow a more 'ministry friendly' curriculum, at least until Umbridge had stopped sniffing around so much.

She hadn't had much luck and had said she didn't want to talk about it, burying herself behind a large Transfiguration book.

They had their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Hagrid on Tuesday and Harry felt a tightening knot in his stomach as he marched down with his friends to the edge of the forest.

Tracy was standing in the corner for the group, picking at her nails and complaining loudly about the mud, as the Lestrange twins weren't in the same lessons, Millicent was agreeing that no lesson should make them get dirt under their nails or force them to have their shoes cleaned.

Harry looked around, there was thankfully no sign of Umbridge, which was a relief. Hagrid stepped forward, some how he looked in a worse condition than he had before.

"Maybe whatever attacked him has some sort of venom? Means that it wont heal without help?" Hermione suggested.

Harry shrugged, he hoped that wasn't the case as it seemed unlikely Hagrid would go for help until he was at death's door.

"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid said cheerfully, "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark."

"What, exactly, prefers the dark?" Draco asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

Hagrid merely smiled at them, wincing slightly and waved them to follow him into the tree line. Harry made his way with the rest of the class into the forest, watching his step over the broken branches.

"Ready?" Hagrid asked, looking around at the apprehensive faces looking up at him, "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the Forest fer yeh fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em."

"Define 'trained'." Tracy asked, her pale face showing she wasn't happy to be in the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid ignored her, something Harry was grateful for. Umbridge would have a field day over Hagrid, a half giant, being rude to a good pure blooded student.

"What happened to your face?" Ron asked, "It wasn't what we're going to be seeing is it?"

"No, it ain't so mind yeh own business." Hagrid grunted.

Hagrid waved at them to follow him, deeper into the forest, where even less light managed to fight its way through the trees.

They had been walking deeper into the forest for about ten minutes before Hagrid finally stopped, giving them a chance to catch their breaths. Hagrid dumped a large, half cow on the ground and stepped back.

"Gather roun', gather roun'." Hagrid encouraged them.

Harry took a couple of tentative steps forward, looking around the murky forest, waiting for something to jump out at him.

"Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call any way, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me."

Hagrid shook his shaggy head and let out a monstrous bird cry that cut through the trees. Harry, as well as several others, jumped in shock; covering their ears quickly.

The sound faded, once again leaving the forest eerily quiet. Harry looked around, trying to see what was coming to see them.

Hagrid let out another cry, once again the sound echoing through the air around them.

"Harry look." Draco said, pointing to where a patch of leaves were getting ruffled, "There is nothing there though…"

Harry shook his head, he could see a pair of blank, white eyes coming slowly towards them.

"It's a Thestral." Harry whispered.

He could now see the skeletal, dragon like face, looking almost nervously at the group of children.

"I can't see it." Draco whispered back, he rolled his eyes, realising what he'd said, "You know what I mean."

The Thestral moved forward and sniffed at the cow before ripping off a chunk a gobbling it down. Harry watched as a couple more moved forwards to eat. He looked round to see if there was any one else who could see them.

There was a nervous looking Gryffindor boy who was looking revolted by the sight before them.

"Oh, an' here comes another!" Hagrid beamed as the crowd of Thestrals grew, "Now… put up yeh 'and if you can see 'em."

Harry raised his hand, along with the Gryffindor boy.

Hagrid gave him a small, sad smile, "Yeah. I… I knew you would Harry."

"What exactly are we 'looking' at?" Tracy demanded.

Hagrid pointed to the cow carcass, where large chunks of flesh were being ripped off. Parvati let out a loud scream and took a step back. Harry understood why, it must have looked very strange, the lumps of flesh disappearing before their eyes.

"What's eating it?" demanded Ron, as bravely as he could.

"Wanna tell 'em Harry?" Hagrid asked.

"Thestrals, I believe." Harry said, he couldn't take his eyes of the creatures before him, "Danica's favourite, although she can't see them."

"That's righ'. Five points to Slytherin. Now 'Ogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows..." Hagrid said.

Parvati cut across him, "Aren't they really unlucky?" she demanded, taking a shaky step back.

"No." Draco scoffed, "That's just a pathetic old superstition. I mean, you don't really believe that do you?"

Parvati glared at him and flicked her long, black plait over her shoulder.

"Malfoy is righ'. There's no bad luck with 'em. And they's really useful, dead clever. Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly jus' pullin' the school carriages. 'Less Dumbledore is taken a long trip and don' wanna apparate."

"I think I felt something near me." Ron said, in a high pitched voice, clutching his hands to his chest.

"No need ta worry. They won' 'urt you." Hagrid said, "Righ' who can tell me why some o' yeh can see 'em an' some can't?"

Draco raised his hand, "Only people who have seen death can see them."

"Tha's exactly right." Hagrid nodded, "It ain't any other way. 'Nother five points ter Slytherin. Now, Thestrals…"

Harry felt a shiver of dread run down his spine as he hurt Umbridge's annoying little cough cut through the air.

"Oh, 'ello." Hagrid said, smiling at Umbridge.

Umbridge looked around her, wrinkling her nose as though the dirtiness of the forest was a direct insult to her, "You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" she asked, in a loud, slow voice as though he would struggle to understand her.

"Oh, yeah." Hagrid nodded, "Glad yeh found the place all righ'. Well, as you can see… or, I dunno, can you? We're doin' Thestrals today."

"I'm sorry?" said Umbridge loudly, cupping her hand around her ear and frowning, "What did you say?"

"He said we're doing Thestrals." Draco said loudly back to her, "Are you feel all right Professor Umbridge? You seem to be struggling to hear, an ear infection maybe?"

Umbridge glared at Draco, "Thank you Mr Malfoy, I am quite well. The wind must have been blowing in my face."

There were several sniggers around the class at Umbridge lame excuse as the forest air around them was perfectly still.

"Well… anyway..." said Hagrid, a little flustered, "'erm… what was I sayin'?"

"Appears… to… have… poor… short… term… memory." muttered Umbridge, making a note on her clipboard.

Harry felt rage bubbling up inside him. Draco put a hand on his arm, shaking his head slightly. Harry tried to take deep breaths to calm down, he knew that it wouldn't help to snap at Umbridge and give her anything to use against Hagrid.

Harry focused on the lecture Hagrid was trying to give, blocking out the annoying comments from Umbridge, her twisting everything Hagrid was saying, while loudly muttering under her breath.

"Now this boy is my favourite, 'e's the firs' one born here in the Forest..." Hagrid was explaining, patting the Thestral next to him, it nussled up to his hand for a moment before going back to eating.

"Hem hem." Umbridge said, taking a small step forward so Harry was overwhelmed by the sickly sweet smell of her perfume, "Are you aware, that Thestrals are classified as 'Dangerous' by the Ministry of Magic?"

Hagrid shook his head, "Thestrals ain't dangerous. All righ' might take a nip at yeh if yeh really annoy 'em." he laughed awkwardly.

"Shows… signs… of… pleasure… at… the… idea… of… violence." Muttered Umbridge as she scribbled another note.

"Professor," Harry said through gritted teeth, "I think Professor Hagrid simply meant that they would defend themselves if provoked, like a dog would bite if you kept hitting it with a stick or something."

Umbridge ignored him, "Well just keep teaching as normal, I'm going to go around and ask some questions from the students."

She made a beeline for Tracy and Millicent, who were standing, clearly unimpressed at the back of the class.

"Do you enjoy the lessons?" she asked, in a loud ringing voice, making it impossible for anyone to pay attention to what Hagrid was saying.

"Do I look like I'm enjoying them?" Tracy spat, "They're always all over the place. Heavens forbid we stay in a clean, safe classroom."

Umbridge smiled and made a note, "And do you share her assessment of the situation?"

Millicent nodded, hurrying to agree with both Tracy and Umbridge.

"And can you understand what he's saying?" Umbridge asked in a concerned voice, "I noticed he talks with a bit of a speech impediment."

Tracy nodded, "It is very difficult to understand what he's saying." she looked, evilly at Ron, "And that sometimes leads to accidents."

Umbridge smiled at this news and nodded, "Thank you for your help dear."

Umbridge walked over to Ron, who was trying to ignore her, "From what I've heard you had an accident in a class before? There were a few details I didn't manage to get many details last time we talked."

Ron raked his hand though his hair and nodded, "Umm yeah about that..."

"What happened exactly?" Umbridge cut across, "The short version? Were you attacked by one of these… Thestrals?"

"We were working with Hippogriffs when one… sort of… attacked me." Ron said.

"That is awful." Umbridge said, shaking her head, "Were you badly injured?"

"It wasn't great." Ron said, embarrassment flushing his cheeks, "It caught me along here, I had it bandaged for a while. But it was because I did it wrong." he said quickly.

"You didn't understand the instructions?" Umbridge said, with clearly fake sympathy.

"No." Ron said, "I mean, I did understand."

Umbridge looked at him crossly, "So you went against the instructions on purpose?"

"No!" Ron said, "I… I just made a mistake."

"Because you were improperly instructed." Umbridge said, scribbling once more on her clipboard.

"I-" Ron started but Umbridge cut across him, patting his hand gently.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful Mr Weasley." Umbridge said.

She wondered over to the other only student who could see the Thestrals and pulled him slightly away from the crowd, still pretending she wasn't interrupting the lesson.

"I believe you can see the… beasts." Umbridge asked, "Who did you see die?"

The boy nodded, "Yeah, my Great Grandmother. She was pretty old and wanted us all there when she died."

"How difficult for you." Umbridge said, "I mean, this must bring all of that back to you?"

The boy shrugged, "Yeah I guess."

"Enjoys… emotionally… hurting… students." Umbridge muttered.

The boy looked uncomfortable at this but said nothing.

"I think they're kinda cool though." The boy said, "Like bat-dragons."

Harry smirked, he thought bat-dragons was a pretty good description, it certainly explained why Danica liked them so much.

Umbridge looked at him and gave him a tight smile, she made another scribble on her clipboard and turned back to Hagrid.

"Well Hagrid," Umbridge said, turning to face him again, "You will receive your evaluation results in ten days' time." she held up her ten stubby little fingers before turning to leave.

Harry watched her go, shaking with anger, "Lying little toad." he spat.

Draco nodded, "Yep. Thestrals seem kinda cool as well. Gods, can you imagine if it had been something like Blast ended-skrewts again? But no, these are good for us to learn."

"Why did you have to bring up Buckbeak?!" Harry yelled at Ron.

He jumped and glared back at Harry, "She asked! It's not like I was boasting about it!"

"You should of told her it was your fault! That you were showing off and you caused Buckbeak to leave!" Harry was still yelling, he didn't know why he was yelling at Ron, the anger wouldn't stop boiling inside him. Most of the class was looking worriedly at him.

"Fuck you!" Ron yelled back, "I didn't hear you trying to correct me either! That's twice she's questioned me! Don't you think she's pushing the point a little?"

"Hey!" Hagrid cut across them, "That's enough! Now focus on yeh lesson, five poin's from each of yeh, yeh know betta than tha ac' like tha'!"

Harry turned away from Ron and focused on trying to read the chapter on Thestrals in his text book. He knew he shouldn't of yelled at Ron, especially in front of the class, Tracy and Millicent sniggering in the corner. The news would almost certainly make its way back to Umbridge, and Hagrid having no control over his class would be yet another thing for Umbridge to use against him.

"I don't know what came over me." Harry said, as he copied out the list of things Thestrals liked to eat, "I just got so mad."

Draco nodded, "I know. That's been happening a lot lately, try taking deep breaths." he said, worriedly.

Harry rolled his eyes, deep breaths seemed to be like trying to put out a forest fire with a glass of water.

"Look, I think you should talk to Professor Snape." Draco said quietly, "He might have a potion or something that could help."

Harry nodded, but he knew he wasn't going to talk to his father about it, Severus had enough to worry about.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

December arrived and brought with it more snow, more cold winds and even more homework for the fifth years, desperately trying to get through to their O. . Harry wondered how anyone was meant to do so much extra homework as well as studying and any other hobbies. For the first time Harry was slightly glad to not have to worry about Quidditch matches and practice, at least he had a few more hours a week to catch up on everything.

Pansy, Draco, Hermione and Neville were more busy than ever, they seemed to be forever called away on more special Prefect duties, watching the first and second years as they spent break times prowling the corridors, away from the howling winds and driving rain that was outside. Draco came close to cursing a couple of the 'snotty brats' as he called them.

Peeves was also making every effort to cause havoc for the teachers and Filch as they tried to decorate the castle, making yet another job for the Prefects to help with.

Hermione felt there was likely to be a connection between Peeves's interference only happening when Umbridge was strutting around supervising the decoration process. She didn't think it was wise to comment on the connection though.

Harry was looking forward to being home more than ever before. Slytherin was still doing well in the Quidditch matches but Harry felt disconnected from it now he wasn't on the team, he understood for the first time why Daphne liked to play but watching mostly bored her.

Being away from Umbridge's ever watching eye would also be a relief. He had managed to avoid another detention with her but it seemed to take every inch of strength he had not to yell at her every time he saw her and her stupid pink hair bow.

The one thing he was enjoying was the DA meetings. Everyone was improving massively, it was the one O.W.L he had no worries about passing, even with Umbridge's useless book being their only official resource.

He made his way, with Daphne, Draco and Pansy for the last DA lesson before the Christmas holidays began. He reached the Come and Go room and double checked the corridor was clear, even though they had already checked the map and there were no teachers nearby, it was better safe than sorry.

Luna opened the door for him and grinned, "Merry Christmas Harry." she said dreamily.

Everyone was already there and had clearly been there for a while, decorating the room with streamers and a large Christmas tree.

"Wow, this place looks great." Harry grinned.

"We thought it would be festive." Angelina explained, "There was a house elf, Dobs or Dobby or something… Dobbin maybe? Anyway he wanted to help and got us all the decorations. We didn't use the ones with your face plastered all over them, I think you've got a fan there."

Harry grinned and thanked them all again, taking his place at the front of the class, "Well since we are about to all be away for three weeks, I thought we would just go over what we've already learnt, make sure it's really sorted and perfect before we move onto something a little more challenging next term."

"We're not going to learn anything new?" Zacharias Smith moaned. It was clearly meant to be a whisper but carried clearly across the room, "If I'd know that I wouldn't of bothered coming."

"Door's right there Smith." Pansy said, "But after your awful performance last week I'd say you need the practice."

"And the week before that." William smirked.

A ripple of laughter went round the room and Zacharias looked awkwardly around him, trying very hard to be invisible.

Cho laughed, looking sweetly towards Harry and blushing slightly, her long eyelashes catching in the light. His brain went blank for a moment at the sight of her smile. He shook his head and forced himself to look away from her so he could continue teaching the class.

"We can practise in pairs, I think we'll start with the Impediment Jinx, a couple of you were struggling with aim and this is a really useful spell. So we'll do that for, lets say ten minutes? Then we'll move on to Stunning, it's a tough one but a needed one. Being able to stun your enemy is a vital tool in a battle, because, well, if they're stunned it makes it far more difficult for them to try and kill you." Harry told them.

There was a ripple of laughter around the room before they partnered up and Harry walked around the room, watching and correcting them on any small imperfections. They had all improved more than he, or anyone, could of hoped for. He regularly had to unfreeze people and nearly everyone managed to hit the person they were aiming for.

Harry let them keep going for a few extra minutes while he pulled out the cushions and gave one to each pair.

"Draco would you mind going with Ginny for a moment, Neville can you swap with Pansy for the next one? Balances your levels a little bit better." Harry asked, "Fred go with Angelina and George with Terrance? I think the rest of you can stay as you are for now."

"Are you saying I shoot like a girl?" Draco asked with a smirk.

Harry grinned, "No comment, your honour." he waited a few moments for everyone to get themselves sorted and positioned in front of their cushions, "So it's easy in a classroom to match up skill levels and wait nicely for your turn. Next term I would really like to try without the waiting, get your speed reflexes up and maybe even more two against one work. We'll see how it goes but that is the aim so use this time to really focus and try your best to master the spell."

He watched from the front of the room as they tried to stun one another. Mostly they were very good although, for all his posturing, Zacharias wasn't as strong as he pretended so Harry had to swap his partner for a boy three years younger than him, much to Zacharias's grumbling.

At the end of the hour, Harry regretfully called them to stop. They put away the pillows and stood around waiting.

"You are all doing really well. I know it sounds cheesy but I am really proud of the effort you've all put in and how well we're doing. Next term I want to push it up to the level, I was thinking that we could begin with Patronuses." Harry said.

There was a murmur of excited agreement around the class. Harry was glad that they were still excited about his teaching, he had worried that they would quickly get bored and want to drop out. Several of the students were a lot older than him, although it showed the effect on the students, having a new teacher every year, it had meant that, a few cramming sessions over the years had put Harry miles ahead of everyone else.

"Well, I think that's it then. I hope you all have a very good Christmas." Harry smiled. He glanced down at the map, "Coast is clear. See you next year."

The students started leaving in small groups of two or three. Harry hung back, wanting to make sure everyone got out safely.

Cho Chang was also hanging back, clearly waiting to be alone with Harry. Pansy and Daphne dragged Draco out of the room, despite him wanting to wait and see what happened.

"We'll see you in the library Harry?" Hermione asked, once her and Neville were the last ones left, besides Harry and Cho.

Harry nodded and tried to calm his pounding heart. The door closed behind Hermione, leaving Harry and Cho alone in the silent room.

"You… your stunning charm has gotten a loads better." Harry said after a few moments of silence, "What… what are you thinking?"

He'd heard his mother ask Severus that question before and it always seemed to make him smile so he wasn't expecting Cho to burst into tears.

"What did I say?" he asked panicked, he wasn't sure if he should go over to her or not.

"I'm sorry." Cho said, shaking her head, Harry was struck by how pretty she looked even with tears streaming down her face, even with red, blotchy cheeks and nose, "It wasn't you, it was just… I was thinking about… about him." she pointed to the picture of Cedric that they had put up on the wall.

There were a lot of pictures up there, mostly family members. Harry had put up a picture of Danica, mounted on a scribbled drawing she'd made him when she was about two. He'd also put up one of the few pictures he had of James.

It was a beautiful mural of everyone they were honouring in learning to defend themselves. It had been Hermione's idea, something to bring everyone together and sooner or later everyone had put up at least one picture.

"I was wondering, if… if he'd known all this… would… would he still be here now?" Cho asked, barely more than a whisper, as if saying the words out loud made them more true some how.

Harry sighed at the picture of the grinning Cedric, looking handsome and bright and alive in his Quidditch uniform, the wind blowing his hair across his forehead.

"He did." Harry shrugged, "He did know this stuff, all of it and more. Cedric… he was brilliant."

Cho nodded, wiping her eyes, "Are you sure?"

Harry nodded and slowly put an arm around her shoulders, "I'm sure. It… it was really quick. And there's nothing you can do to stop a killing curse, you can be the best in the world but there isn't a shield or anything that will stop it."

"You did." Cho said, with a small smile, "When you were a baby."

Harry shrugged, "That was a fluke, no one even really knows why it happened."

"I'm really sorry." Cho said suddenly, "It must be really hard for you, talking about Cedric, and what happened that night."

"It's OK. I mean, yes it is hard, very hard but..." Harry wasn't sure how he was meant to finish that sentence, in truth he didn't want to be talking about Cedric or what happened.

Cho turned to face him, smiling slightly, "Harry, I like you. I mean really like you." she said quietly.

Harry didn't know what to do, his heart was racing, his mouth felt all dry and he was sure the temperature in the room had risen by ten degrees.

"Mistletoe." Cho said, moving even closer, so her body was pressing against Harry's.

Harry looked up and nodded at the small sprig of mistletoe that was hanging from the celling. Cho reached up and pulled his head down slightly to kiss him.

Harry felt the gentle pressure of her lips on his and leaned in to get even closer to her. She pulled away, Harry wasn't sure how long it had been, it could have been hours as far as he knew.

"I'll see you after Christmas Harry." Cho said softly.

Harry nodded, "Yes. Yes, merry Christmas."

He watched as Cho left the room and waited until the door was closed behind her to lean heavily against one of the tables and catch his breath.

He left the room after a few minutes, making his way to the library, happy to see his friends gathered around the table in the corner, it was fairly sheltered from the ever watchful glares of Madam Pince.

"Harry you look really flushed, is everything all right?" Daphne asked, moving her bag so he could sit down.

Harry nodded, he couldn't stop grinning, "Cho kissed me." he said quickly.

"How was it?" Pansy asked, quickly shutting her book.

Harry shrugged, "Wet?"

"Eww Harry!" Pansy said, wrinkling her nose, "I did not need to know that!"

Harry shook his head, "No, I mean she was crying."

"Oh." Pansy said.

"Were you really that bad?" Draco asked.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Feeling the love here guys."

"She was clearly crying about Cedric." Hermione pointed out.

"Thank you." Harry said, he sighed, "She was talking about how if Cedric knew all the stuff I was teaching, maybe he would of survived."

Their little table fell quiet.

"He did know though, didn't he?" Neville said quietly.

Harry nodded, "Yes. That's the bottom line with all this, you can know everything possible to defend yourself and it still might not be enough."

"That doesn't mean we stop trying though." Draco said firmly, "We still learn, we still work hard and give ourselves and everyone around us the best chance we possibly can."

"And take as many of the bastards down with us as we can." Pansy grinned.

Harry nodded and smiled, his friends always seemed to know what to say to make him feel better, something he would always be grateful for.

"And there is more important things to think about at the moment." Draco said seriously, "Harry kissed a girl!" he mocked in a sing-song voice.

Harry blushed as the memory of Cho's touch flowed into his head, he thought it had been a pretty good kiss and he was looking forward to the next one. He bent his head low over his text book, shielding his bright red face from his friends.

He'd kissed a girl!


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty One

Harry's brain was fried by the time he crawled into bed, his head spinning with potions ingredients, Charms and Transfiguration incantations. He was grateful to pull the curtains closed around his bed and fall asleep.

He was sitting in the Come and Go room, a large desk with a stack of exam papers on it. Cho was crying in front of him, bright green tears running down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, trying to stand up but stuck to his chair.

"You… you promised!" She howled, "You promised you'd do my exams! I've failed everything now!"

Harry looked horrified at the name 'Cho Chang' clearly written on each one of the hundred or more test papers, some from subjects he'd never even heard of, many not even in English.

"Cho, we're not even in the same year!" Harry pointed out.

"You promised!" Cho cried, falling to her knees.

Harry didn't know what to do, he couldn't get up to comfort her and he certainly didn't remember promising to do her tests.

"You did, you know." Lily said, walking through the room and out of the wall opposite him.

"Mum?" Harry asked. He was suddenly able to stand up, he took a step forward and fell through the floor, landing with a thud in a long dark corridor.

He was smooth and powerful, slipping between metal bars and down onto a smooth stone floor. He'd never seen the world like this before, everything was bright and colourful despite the fact it was dark. He liked it. He liked the power and the way his skin was feeling and moving around him.

Sticking out his tongue he could taste a man up ahead. He was falling asleep, his head drooping as he tried to fight the fog of sleep that was closing in around his mind.

Harry moved forward, he wanted to go through that door the man was guarding. A surge of anger at the figure blazed through him.

He couldn't stop to bite him though, he had work to do. There was a patch of silver at the man's feet, a cloak laying on the floor, it must have fallen off the fool as he struggled to stay awake.

Harry saw the man's eyes open, spotting him and reaching for his wand. Harry had no choice, he reared up and bit down heavily on the man's chest, he felt ribs splinter under his mouth, it filling with the warm, metallic taste of blood.

The man let out a cry of pain and fell to the floor, splattering the wall and door with blood. Harry reared up to strike again before waking up in a shock.

His head was burning with pain, he could hardly think straight.

"Harry!" HARRY!" Draco yelled, gripping onto Harry's shoulders so tightly it hurt.

"Shut the nut case up!" Crabbe yelled, before rolling over again.

Harry looked around, Draco had pulled back the curtains between the two beds and was looking down with a pale face, making his grey eyes look even clearer than normal.

Harry was drenched in an icy sweat that made his pyjamas stick to his skin, making it difficult to breath.

Harry tried to force the words out but they wouldn't come, it was like his lungs hadn't got any air left.

"Come with me." Draco said, pulling Harry out of bed and then out of the dorm room, wrapping him in Draco's soft dressing gown.

Harry followed, he didn't have the energy to fight him.

"What happened?" Draco asked, "Are you ill?"

Harry nodded, and then shook his head, "We… Dad… Dad!" he forced out.

Draco nodded and pulled Harry down the steps, heading towards Professor Snape's office. He hammered on the door until his fist ached, but there was no answer.

"Mr Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang through the hallway, "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"Harry needs his Dad." Draco said, showing Professor McGonagall where Harry was propped up against the wall.

"Mr Potter, you are feverish. You need to go to the hospital wing immediately." Professor McGonagall instructed.

Harry shook his head, it throbbed but he wasn't sick, he knew it was more than that, "No… I need Dad."

"Professor Snape is at home this evening Mr Potter." McGonagall said, quickly, clearly worried about him.

Harry tried to think, all he could think of was the pain in his head and what he'd seen in the dream, he had to tell her, it was too much of a risk not to, "Is… is Mr… Mr… Ron's… Dad... on duty tonight? For the Order?"

Professor McGonagall looked at him sharply, "Why?"

"He's hurt." Harry said, taking her answer as a yes and trying not to panic.

Professor McGonagall thought for a moment before ordering them to follow her, making her way swiftly through the corridors to Dumbledore's office.

"Fizzing Whizzbee." she announced, to the large stone gargoyle, which sprang to life and let them move onto the revolving stairs.

Harry was surprised to hear voices, at least a dozen, coming from inside the headmaster's office so late at night.

The voices stopped the second Professor McGonagall knocked on the door.

"Come in." sounded Professor Dumbledore.

McGonagall swung the door open and marched into the semi dark room. Harry flopped into a chair before Dumbledore had even offered it to him, he was to exhausted to stand any longer.

"Harry, what is the issue?" Dumbledore asked, glancing over his soaked and pale frame.

Harry didn't know where to start, he felt like screaming or crying or exploding and he wasn't sure which, "I… I saw an attack. On Mr Weasley I think."

"Mr Weasley is a very capable wizard, I'm sure he can stave off an attack." Professor McGonagall said calmly.

"NOT THIS!" Harry yelled.

Draco jumped back at the shock of Harry's out bust, especially considering how weak Harry seemed.

"Not this." Harry said, more calmly, "There is something wrong. I saw it."

"What did you see Harry?" Dumbledore asked, annoyingly calmly.

Harry forced himself to take a deep, calming breath, "I was asleep, but this wasn't a dream. I saw Mr Weasley bleeding, heavily after being attacked by a giant snake."

It sounded ridiculous, Harry knew that, but he also knew that this hadn't just been a dream, it was more than that and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt that Mr Weasley was bleeding to death.

"How did you see this?" Dumbledore asked, looking Harry carefully up and down for just a second before looking away.

Harry felt his blood boiling, "I said! It was in a dream!" he hissed.

Dumbledore still didn't look at him for more than a moment, "You miss understand me Harry, were you looking down at the scene? Standing off to one side or in the corner?"

Harry didn't want to say, he felt dirty, and guilty, "I don't understand why that matters. You need to tell someone where Mr Weasley is and get him before… before it's too late."

"Tell me Harry." Dumbledore said, again without a shred of emotion.

"Professor, I hate to pipe in here but surely checking on Mr Weasley is of the most importance right now?" Draco said slowly.

Dumbledore turned to him and gave a small smile, "I agree, so Harry if you would please answer my question."

"I was the snake." Harry said quietly.

Draco's head snapped round, "What?"

"I was the snake!" Harry yelled, struggling to stop himself falling off the chair, to the floor, "I was having a stupid, random dream about exams and then I fell through the floor and I… I was somewhere else, somewhere dark but my sight was all funny and I was the snake, I attacked Mr Weasley."

Dumbledore gave a small nod, "Arthur is seriously injured?"

"Well I don't know!" Harry snapped, "Do broken ribs, a big hole in your lung and huge bite wounds sound serious to you?" Dumbledore had still barely looked at him, he might as well of sent a letter.

Dumbledore moved very quickly to the other side of the desk, looking up at the pictures on the wall, "Everard?" he said sharply, "And Dilys."

A pale faced wizard, with an old fashioned short black fringe and an older witch with long silver ringlets looked up, shrugging off the pretence of sleeping.

"You were listening?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course." The witch said.

"The man has red hair and glasses." Dumbledore informed them, "Everard you will need to make sure he is found by the right people, raise the alarm."

Both of the pictures nodded and moved off out of their frames.

"Everard and Dilys were two of Hogwarts most renowned heads-" Dumbledore began, looking over the wall.

"I don't care." Harry spat. He knew he was being rude, but he didn't care about that either.

"Professor McGonagall, please draw up a few more chairs, they could be several minutes." Dumbledore said, ignoring Harry's interruption.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand, creating two straight backed, hard wooden chairs; she sat in one, gesturing for Draco to sit in the other.

Dumbledore moved over to where Fawks was sleeping and gently stroked him awake, "You will be needed, my friend. Send us a warning."

There was a flash of fire as Fawks vanished from his perch. Dumbledore moved around the room, muttering to himself as he used several of his delicate silver instruments. A green, smoke serpent's mouth reached out from one of them and Dumbledore nodded to himself.

Harry wanted to ask what it had been for but before he got the chance Everard returned to the painting.

"Dumbledore!" he gasped.

"What news?" Dumbledore asked him, returning to the wall of paintings.

"I yelled and yelled until someone came running, I told them I had heard something down stairs, and insisted they went to go and check. There are no paintings down there, as you know, but they carried him up a few minutes later. He's in a bad way, Albus."

A few moments later Dilys also returned and confirmed to them that Arthur had arrived at St Mungo's without further incident and was being seen to.

"Very good." Dumbledore door said, clearly thinking through his next course of action, "Minerva, please go and wake the Weasley children and bring them here."

"Of course." McGonagall said, getting up and leaving the room quickly.

"What about their mother?" Draco asked, "She should be informed."

"How kind of you to think of her." Dumbledore smiled, "But she will already know. She has a rather ingenious clock, and if not Fawks will tell her."

Dumbledore went over and pulled an old, battered iron kettle out of a cupboards, which he placed carefully on his desk.

"Portus!" Dumbledore said clearly, the kettle glowed blue for a moment before turning back to normal.

"Phineas." Dumbledore said clearly.

"Yes, yes, go and tell my _darling_ great great grandson and the… others who live in the house that the Weasley elder has been hurt and the whole brood with be once more descending on them. Correct?" Phineas sighed dramatically, "Oh and I suppose Harry will be using this to bunk off school until the next term?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Correct. They will be arriving shortly, by Portkey. Also make it clear to Mrs and Professor Snape that Harry is fine, and they do not need to come and collect him."

Harry didn't feel fine but didn't argue the point. The door opened to Dumbledore's office and a sleepy, worried looking Fred, George, Ginny and Ron walked in.

"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny asked, looking wide eyed at him, "Professor McGonagall said you saw Dad get hurt?"

Harry didn't know what to say, he was sure it wouldn't win him any popularity prises to blurt out that he'd turned into a giant snake and attacked their father, something which Dumbledore had still not explained.

"Your father has indeed been injured, in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore said quickly, "He has been taken to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am sending you to Grimmauld Place, which will be far more convenient for visiting the hospital than the Burrow would be. Your mother will be there."

"How are we going to get there?" Fred asked, "Floo powder?"

"No." Dumbledore told them, "It is not safe currently, the network is being watched. You will be taking a Portkey, we are just waiting a moment."

There was a flash of light and a single golden feather floated to the ground. Dumbledore sighed and looked grave.

"That was Fawks's warning, Professor Umbridge must know you are all out of your beds. Minerva, go and head her off. Tell her… anything."

Professor McGonagall was gone in a moment. Phineas arrived back to his portrait and settled down.

"They are ready." he said in a bored voice.

"Come along then." Dumbledore said, gesturing for them all to move around the kettle, "Before anyone else joins us. Mr Malfoy I will make sure you get back to your dorm room."

Draco looked quickly between Harry and Dumbledore, "I'm not going with them?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "No. I will make sure that you are not caught by Umbridge and you can see Harry again in a few days when the term ends."

Harry wanted to argue but didn't think it would do any good, with some difficulty he stood up and placed a finger on the kettle.

Dumbledore looked at him, for the first time that evening Harry could see into Dumbledore's clear blue eyes and felt the white hot rage burn through him. He wanted to bite him, to sink his teeth into Dumbledore's throat. He felt the Portkey activate, dumping him in the hallway of Grimmauld place and into his mother's waiting arms.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty Two

"I've got you. I've got you." Lily said, stroking Harry's hair and slowly sinking to the floor under the weight of Harry flopped in her arms.

He heard the kettle clatter to the floor in the kitchen and forced himself upright, "Hi Mum." he mumbled.

Harry looked around and saw Nikka, Sirius and Severus helping the others to their feet. Danica was peering, white faced around the banister at the top of the landing, her hair neatly plaited and hanging each side of her face, in her long nightgown she looked like a child from an old painting, Harry forced a smile onto his face so she wouldn't worry too much.

"Young Missy should be in bed." Kreacher said kindly but forcefully and loud enough to be heard, leading Danica back to her room.

"Are you all right?" Severus asked Harry.

Harry wasn't sure what to say.

"Phineas said Arthur has been hurt?" Lily asked for confirmation.

"Yeah. I want to hear this for myself." George said.

Harry felt like vanishing as every Weasley eye in the house turned to him.

"I..." Harry didn't know what to say, they had a right to know but that didn't mean he wanted to be the one who had to tell them, "I had a sort of vision. I saw a snake, a big one, definitely not natural, it attacked your father."

Harry might have been expecting the accusing looks but that didn't make it any easier that they came, he hung his head, unsure of what to say that would do anything but make the situation that much worse.

"Is Mum here?" Ginny asked after a few moments.

Lily shook her head, "No. She's gone straight to St Mungo's."

"We've got to get there." Ron said, his face stony.

"You are to stay here." Severus said calmly, "We will make sure you can see your father as soon as possible. But it's the middle of the night."

"You don't tell us what to do!" Fred snarled at Severus, "Our Dad is dying!"

"It is more complicated than that." Nikka told them sternly, "Look I get it, there is nothing I wouldn't do for my family but how are you going to explain to the ministry that you knew about the attack before they did?"

Fred and George glared back at her.

"Why does that matter?" Ron asked angrily.

"We are all being watched, you moron. The ministry would love to throw us all in Azkaban right now! You wouldn't be helping your father by getting him arrested." Nikka said frankly.

"Well how did Harry know?" Ginny asked, "I mean, how did you have a vision? Like Trelawney?"

Harry shrugged, "I honestly don't know." although he didn't like the comparison to Trelawney.

"Did you know before? Why didn't you tell us this was going to happen?! Warn us!?" Ron yelled.

"That is enough!" Lily said, cutting across them, her face made them fall silent, "I know you are all worried about Arthur and I don't begrudge you that, but it was not anyone in this room's fault. Now, you may wait up, I'm sure Kreacher would be happy to make you all some hot milk, or you may go to your rooms, they're all ready for you. But you will not stand here and accuse my son of causing this. It is because of him that he was found at all and your father has the chance he does, you should be thanking him."

Ron looked shame faced at Harry and muttered something that sounded nothing like a thanks or an apology before shoving his way through to the kitchen.

"I didn't know until it happened." Harry said, hoping the Fred, George and Ginny would believe him.

"I suggest we all take a seat." Severus said, "It's going to be a long night."

His parents weren't wrong, Harry drank the milk that Kreacher warmed for them without really noticing it. At half three Fleur carried Danica down the stairs, apparently Danica had crawled into her bed asking if she knew what was going on.

Lily and Kreacher quickly made everyone some toast and more warm milk and honey which was left mostly untouched, no one was hungry. Harry wished the clock would stop ticking, it was the only noise echoing around the room until Mrs Weasley arrived with a pop in the hallway, stripping off her travelling cloak.

She ignored their pleas for information until she was sitting down in the dinning room which annoyed Harry immensely, she gave them a small smile, looking very tired and worried still.

"He's going to be all right." she said, with forced strength, "He's going to be just fine. He's sleeping at the moment but we should be able to go and see him later today. Bill is sitting with him and Charlie is on his way home."

"I am soo pleezed." Fleur said, "I am soo relieved."

Mrs Weasley looked less than impressed at her, turning up her nose a little.

"I'm pleased too." Danica said, nodding her sleepy head. Mrs Weasley smiled fondly at her although Fleur almost certainly knew Arthur better than Danica did, as well as having a better understanding of what was going on.

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were too tired, worried and relieved to say anything.

"Kreacher would you mind getting a cooked breakfast on the go? I'll come and help you shortly." Lily asked.

Kreacher nodded and took Danica with him into the kitchen.

"I'm just so pleased..." Mrs Weasley said, close to tears, "I don't know what would of happened without you Harry. They might not of found him for hours and then… then… it would of been too late." her voice hitched with emotion, she dabbed her eyes with a soaked lace hanky, "But thanks to you, he is alive and Dumbledore had time to think up a good cover story for what he was doing down… you've no idea the trouble he could have been in. I mean look at poor Sturgis…"

Harry didn't want to be thanked, he wished no one knew he had anything to do with his. He forced himself to stand up, though, and give Mrs Weasley a hug, his limbs stiff and sore from spending so long at the table.

"I'm just glad he's going to be OK." Harry said.

Mrs Weasley clung onto him and burst into tears, leaving a wet patch on Harry's Pyjama top. Kreacher returned before too long and set down plates full of pancakes. Mrs Weasley let Harry down and dried her face on a fresh tissue Nikka passed to her.

Harry was surprised he was able to eat anything but soon realised how hungry he was. They all had more than one helping, Danica also managing to finish off half a jar of maple syrup before it was taken off her.

"I'm sure Lily will agree, Molly, that you all should stay here as long as you'd like." Sirius said, "We have plenty of room and you'll struggle to visit the hospital with the Floo network… the way it is at the moment."

"Oh Sirius, I'm so grateful. He's going to be in for a little while, it'll mean we're here over Christmas?" Mrs Weasley said.

"We wouldn't have it any other way." Severus said with a tight smile.

Harry could think of several other ways he'd rather have it but said nothing; it was him who'd attacked Mr Weasley after all. He shook his head, he was being stupid, he didn't have fangs. He didn't know what had happened other than he'd been asleep in his bed at Hogwarts.

"I should be getting off, I will be missed if I'm not at breakfast. It may raise difficult questions what with Harry coming home early." Severus said, hugging Danica and Harry before giving Lily a peck on the lips and leaving.

"Mum can I have a word with you?" Harry said quickly, he needed to tell her.

Lily nodded, "Yes of course. Molly can you make sure Danica doesn't eat any more sugar for a moment?"

"Do not worry." Fleur smiled, shaking her silvery hair, "We will watch 'er."

Harry caught Mrs Weasley giving Fleur another disapproving look before he left the room.

"Harry what's wrong?" Lily asked, "You look as white as a sheet."

"It was me." he whispered, "I… I was the snake that attacked Mr Weasley."

Lily looked at him in confusion, "I don't understand."

"I was dreaming about exams and then I stood up and fell through the floor." Harry said steadily, "Then, I was the snake. I felt what it felt, I could taste the blood."

Lily thought for a moment, trying to process what he was saying, "Did you tell Dumbledore about this?"

Harry nodded, anger bubbling up in him again, "Yes." he spat, "But he acted like I wasn't there."

Lily looked like she desperately wanted to tell him something before smiling, "I'm sure that if he thought it was anything you needed to know, he would of told you. Besides, you were in Hogwarts, Mr Weasley was miles away."

Harry nodded, "There was another moment though, in Dumbledore's office. It was the only time he looked at me for the whole evening and it was back, I felt like the snake again. I know the whole 'teenage hormone' thing but… I was so angry in a second. I wanted to bite him." he sounded crazy.

Lily pulled him into a hug and smoothed his hair, "Don't worry Harry. This isn't your fault and if you hadn't seen what happened, for whatever reason you saw it, Mr Weasley would be dead. You saved his life."

"They blame me. Ron at least does, if not the others as well. They're just better at hiding it." Harry mumbled.

Lily smiled, "Well I'd say something but it wouldn't be very responsible motherly of me." she whispered, "Please do try not to worry sweetie."

Harry nodded and forced a smile. Lily was right, it couldn't of been him that attacked Mr Weasley, even magic had it's limits and being in two places at once, at his age, was one of them.

He wondered back to the dinning room and helped Kreacher, Nikka and Sirius clear the table and do the washing up.

Molly finished getting all of the beds ready, and by that she was remaking them in her way after Kreacher had done it perfectly well before. It wasn't long before their trunks arrived from school and they could get unpacked before all grabbing a few extra hours of sleep. Harry changed into clean pyjamas and lay, wide awake on his bed.

It wasn't long before he heard his door creak open. He pushed his glasses onto his nose and looked round to see Danica peaking her head into his room, he smiled and patted the bed next to him. She grinned and ran in, cuddling into his side.

"Why are you home early from school? We didn't even go to the train station." she said, picking at a loose thread on her nightdress.

Harry didn't know what to say, he didn't think his mother would be happy if he gave the gory details to his baby sister; however much said baby sister would like the gory details.

"Well, I had a dream and it came true." Harry said.

Danica looked at him in confusion, "So you don't need to learn anything more?"

Harry laughed, "No, not exactly. It was a bad dream so they said I could go home in case I got upset and then Mum, and you, would be there to look after me."

Danica nodded, "I had a bad dream that a giant banana was chasing me, that's not going to come true is it?"

Harry fought the urge to laugh, "I doubt it. But if it does you could always just eat the banana."

Danica wrinkled her nose, "But I don't like bananas."

"Sorry, good point." Harry said, very seriously.

"I like Mr Weasley." Danica said softly, "He is nice."

"I like him too." Harry nodded, "Remember when he cooked you sausages at the Quidditch World Cup?"

Danica nodded and smiled, "And he slipped me four chocolate frogs as we left the tent, for me to eat during the match!"

Harry laughed, "Did he? That was sneaky of him. What cards did you get?"

"Slytherin, Dumbledore, Al...Ab...Adalbert Waffling and Beatrix Bloxam. I remember the last one because Draco has a scary aunt Bellatrix which sounds the same without the Ls." Danica said, counting them off on her fingers.

"Your very own collection." Harry smiled, trying not to cry at how upset Danica was going to be if Mr Weasley didn't pull through. Somehow her innocence lying next to him felt like a knife to the chest.

"Not really, I lost them." Danica sighed, "I'd put them under my pillow in the tent, to keep them safe. Only it wasn't all that safe in the end. Maybe Mr Weasley could get me some more when he's better?"

"I'm sure he could." Harry said quietly.

"What happened to him?" Danica asked.

Harry sighed, "Honestly? I don't know. But Mummy and Daddy and Uncle Sirius and Aunty Nikka will figure it out I'm sure."

"And stop whoever hurt him?" Danica asked, her big green eyes looking up at him.

Harry felt like throwing up and nodded, forcing a smile. He was sure that they would stop whoever attacked Mr Weasley, even if it was him.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty Three

Harry did manage to fall into a fitful sleep, Danica snuggled into his side, breathing softly. His mother woke him at half passed eleven and he trudged down to the dinning room for an early lunch.

Mrs Weasley was already up and arguing with Kreacher in the kitchen once again. Harry had hoped that with everything going on she would be too wrapped up to argue. Mrs Weasley brought out a plate of sandwiches with a large jug of pumpkin juice.

"There." she said with a smile, "I mean it's nearly noon, whoever heard of having breakfast so late? Now eat up everyone. Tonks and Mad-eye will be arriving soon to take us all to the hospital soon. Maybe I should make Arthur something, the food is bound to be terrible…" she walked off, still talking to herself.

Harry ate a tuna sandwich and told Danica to eat the jam butty and stop moaning that there wasn't any cereal. As Mrs Weasley had told them, it wasn't long before Tonks and Moody arrived, both dressed as muggles.

"Are you ready to go Harry?" Mrs Weasley asked, pulling on an old coat that Lily had lent her.

Harry looked at her in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're coming with us." Mrs Weasley said as though it were obvious.

Ron looked less than impressed.

"I… umm… surely it should just be the family? At least to start with?" Harry asked awkwardly.

Mrs Weasley shook her head, her greying red curls bouncing, "Of course not! You're the reason he's alive. He wants to see you and I won't hear of anything else."

Harry sighed, resined to the fact this was going to happen, "I'll go tell Mum."

Lily also agreed that it was strange for him to go with them to the hospital but said that they shouldn't argue with Mrs Weasley at the moment, it wouldn't hurt Harry to go to the hospital after all.

Sirius and Nikka happily agreed to look after Danica so that Lily could go with Harry, Mrs Weasley tried to insist that Harry would be fine with them but Lily smiled politely and said she was going.

Harry wrote a note to send to Draco, saying that he was recovering from the flu but was still feeling pretty rough and would hopefully see him over the holidays. He wished he could say more but they both knew that all the mail was being watched as it came in or out of Hogwarts. Thankfully there was only a few days left of term and their excuse of him coming down with the flu would explain why he was off.

He sent Hedwig soaring into the sky before pulling on his coat and heading out the door to the hospital.

It wasn't long until they were sitting on the underground, ignoring the looks Tonks was getting for her bright pink pixie cut.

"There isn't any _Seer_ blood in your family is there?" Tonks asked, she was very interested in Harry's vision and Harry was gently trying to distracted her from the topic.

"No, not that we know off." Harry said, "You know Danica loves tracing her finger along the maps when we travel this way. She tells us how many stops we've got until we need to get off."

Tonks grinned, "She is a cutie, and brighter that she lets on."

Tonks looked like she was going to ask something else when Lily told them all it was the next stop and it was time to get ready to leave. The next stop let them out in the middle of London and they were quickly swept up in the flow of people rushing about.

Harry had been to St Mungo's before, once when he'd accidentally picked up Sirius wand when he was about six and made his nose invisible. No one had been able to work out how he'd done it, and they didn't want to risk making it worse so it was a trip to the hospital, with Lily berating Sirius all the way about being irresponsible with his wand. She'd gotten so annoyed at him one of the trainee mediwizards had to leave the room with a fit of the giggles.

They walked up to the old, grubby shop front and looked around before Tonks walked up to the ugly female dummy, it's eyelashes falling off, and grinned.

"Wotcher," She said quietly, "We're here to see Arthur Weasley."

He waited until the dummy gave a small nod and beckoned them forward with a finger before they walked though the window and it's cool water feeling, in one large group.

Harry shook himself on the other side to rid himself of the feeling of cool water running down his neck.

"Are you all right Harry dear?" Mrs Weasley asked, moving over to him.

"Yeah, I just hate that water feeling." harry shrugged, "I hated it last time as well."

"Oh? You've been here before?" Mrs Weasley asked, looking very concerned.

Harry nodded, "Just once, when I was about five or six. I got hold of Sirius's wand."

Mrs Weasley sniffed, "Well, none of my children ever ended up in hospital for something like that."

Harry was not entirely convinced but wisely chose not to saying anything.

Lily smiled tightly, "I think the reception is this way."

She led them through the crowded waiting room, filled with witches and wizards sitting on old wooden chairs, flicking through equally old copies of Witch Weekly or the Daily Prophet.

There were several people in the waiting room being seen to by witches and wizards in lime green robes, taking notes on clipboards.

Harry looked over the walls, covered in informational posters advising people on cauldron cleanliness and not to take unapproved antidotes. Harry thought that by the time they'd ended up in hospital, it was likely to be too late.

There was a large portrait of Dilys, the witch with grey ringlets that sat in Dumbledore's office. Harry watched as she looked over the group, gave Harry a quick wink and left the frame. Harry had a knot in his stomach at the thought of her reporting to Dumbledore, he didn't know why but it made him feel rather uneasy.

They moved to the front of the line and Mrs Weasley stepped forward to the rather bored and irritable witch at the desk.

"Hello." She said, "My husband, Arthur Weasley, was supposed to be moved to a different ward this morning, could you tell us-"

"Arthur Weasley?" the witch said, cutting across Mrs Weasley and running her finger down a list in front of her, "Ah yes. First floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn Ward."

"Thank you dear." Mrs Weasley smiled, leading them all to the lifts.

The Dai Llewellyn ward was easy to find, it was written in large letters over the ward entrance along with the words 'Dangerous' and 'Bites'.

"We'll wait outside Molly." Tonks said, "Arthur won't want to deal with the lot of us right now. It should just be family to start with."

Mrs Weasley nodded and smiled, running her fingers though her hair and straightening her clothes, "Yes."

Harry hung back to stay with his mother, Tonks and Moody but Mrs Weasley took his hand, pulling him forward.

"Don't be silly Harry." Mrs Weasley smiled, "Arthur wants to say thank you."

Lily looked nervously between Harry and Mrs Weasley for a moment and smiled, "I'll be right here Harry. Just shout, if you need me."

Harry nodded and followed the Weasleys into the ward. It was small and dingy but it had lovely oak panelling on the walls and was spotlessly clean.

There were only three beds occupied in the ward, the rest of the beds made up with sheets covering them to keep them clean. Mr Weasley was in the bed at the far end of the ward, beside its one and only small window.

Harry was very relieved to see that he was sitting, propped up in the bed, reading the paper. He beamed a smile at them as he saw them come over.

"Hello!" He called, "Bill has just left, he needed to get back to work but he's going to pick Charlie up and drop in on you all later." he said, putting the paper down.

"How are you?" Mrs Weasley asked, giving him a light kiss on the cheek.

"I feel absolutely fine." Mr Weasley said, he reached over with his good arm to give Ginny a hug, "If only they could take the bandages off, I could go home."

"Why can't they take them off Dad?" Fred asked, moving in for a hug.

Mr Weasley sighed slightly before smiling again, "Well every time they've tried taking the bandages off, I start bleeding like mad." he reached for his wand and created six chairs for them all to sit down on, "It seems there was some sort of, rather unusual poison in that snake's fangs that keeps wounds open. They're sure they'll find an antidote thought. They say they've had much worse cases than mine, Lily's for example."

Harry tried not to look too shocked at what Mr Weasley was saying.

"She was very touch and go for a while, after the torture and then the magical explosion and then half the house falling on her..." Mr Weasley seemed to remember suddenly that Harry was sitting with them and stopped suddenly, "Sorry Harry. What I mean is that they're very good here. I just have to keep taking a Blood-Replenishing potion every hour. But that fellow over there, bitten by a werewolf, no cure at all. Poor chap."

"A werewolf?" Mrs Weasley whispered, "I mean, is he safe? To be on a public ward? He should be in a private room surely?"

"It's two weeks until the full moon." Harry said quietly.

"Exactly." Mr Weasley smiled, "The healers were talking to him this morning, trying to explain to him that he would be able to live a nearly normal life. I said to him, I didn't mention names of course, but I said I knew a werewolf personally, a very nice man, who finds his condition quite easy to manage."

Harry bit his tongue, he didn't think Remus would agree with Mr Weasley's assessment of 'easy'. He knew that even when he could get the Wolfsbane potion it was very painful and there was a lot of stigma around being a werewolf. He knew now was no the time to mention it though.

"What did he say?" George asked.

Mr Weasley looked sad for a moment, "He said he'd give me another bite if I didn't shut up."

"How rude." Ginny said.

Mr Weasley shrugged, "That woman over there, won't tell the healers what bit her, which makes us all think it must have been something she was handling illegally. Whatever it was took a good chunk out of her leg, awful smell when they have to change the dressings."

Fred leaned forward, "So, are you going to tell us what happened?"

Mr Weasley looked suddenly guarded, "Well you know. I had a long day, dozed off, got sneaked up on and attacked by a snake."

"Is it in the Prophet? You being attacked?" George asked.

"No of course not." Mr Weasley said bitterly, "the Ministry wouldn't want people to know a dirty great serpent got-"

"Arthur!" Mrs Weasley warned him.

"Got...er.. me." Mr Weasley finished with a large, slightly fake, smile.

"So where were you?" Ginny asked, "In your office?"

"That's my business." Mr Weasley said, still smiling.

He reached over and picked up the paper again, glancing over it, "I was just reading about Willy Widdershins's arrest when you arrived. He's been causing trouble for us for a while, likes to play tricks on muggles. One of his jinxes must of backfired, exploded a toilet and they found him unconscious in the mess, covered in-"

"When you say you were 'on duty', what were you doing?" Fred interrupted.

"That is enough." Hissed Mrs Weasley, "You heard your father, now unless you want to wait outside, drop it. Now dear, what were you saying about Willy Widdershins?"

"Well I'm getting my hopes up," Arthur continued, "that he is going to get his comeuppance. He'd gotten off with everything before now some how. All I can think if he managed to slip gold into the right hands." he shook his head, "According to this-"

"You were guarding it weren't you?" George said, ignoring his mother's warning, "The weapon that You-Know-Who is after?"

"George!" Mrs Weasley snapped, "Go and wait outside now, I warned you! You can come back in to say goodbye later."

George sullenly got up and stalked out the ward, followed by Fred. Mrs Weasley vanished the chairs and shuffled everyone up, no one daring to make a sound.

Mr Weasley coughed, "According to this, Willy's been selling biting doorknobs to Muggles, there are two of them in here with lost fingers. I mean, imagine, Muggles in St Mungo's. I wonder which ward they're in."

"Poor people." Harry said, "I mean they'll have at least a month of their lives missing between the regrowth time and then the memory modification, not to mention they'll be missed."

Mr Weasley nodded, "Exactly, very true. Although hopefully it means the menace will be dealt with this time."

"Right, you're looking tired. Lily, Tonks and Moody are just outside, they'd like to see you. Children out you can all come and say goodbye before we go." Mrs Weasley said.

Harry stood up with the others to leave.

"Oh Harry, I just wanted to say, thank you. More than I can say, thank you." Mr Weasley said, gripping his hand.

Harry smiled, feeling awkward on having received such praise and not sure what to say, "Well… umm… you're welcome?"

He walked quickly from the ward and waited outside. Fred and George were waiting, looking rather pleased with themselves. They waited until the adults had filed into the room to pull out the flesh coloured bits of string that were extendible ears.

Fred and George handed around the ends of the ears, Harry wasn't sure if he should take one.

"Harry, Dad's only alive because of you, you should take one. You've earned it." Fred grinned.

Harry returned the smile and put the string into his ear. He watched as the other ends of the strings wiggled towards and then under the door and into the ward.

"They searched the whole area, but couldn't find the snake." Tonks said clearly.

Harry was impressed, he couldn't fault Fred and George's inventing ability.

"It just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur..." Tonks sighed, "I mean You-Know-Who can't really of expected a snake to get in?"

"I reckon he sent it as a lookout." Moody growled, "Cause he ain't had any luck so far has he?"

"Harry has mentioned that Voldemort can inhabit snakes." Lily said quietly, "He might have been trying to get a clearer picture for himself, without having to actually set foot in the Ministry and risk getting caught."

"I reckon you're right there." Moody growled, "And if Arthur hadn't been there the beast would've seen a lot more, had a lot more time to look around."

"Harry says he saw it all happen?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Yes." Lily said, she sounded a little uneasy.

Harry worried for a moment that Lily was going to tell them exactly how he'd seen what happened to Mr Weasley, but she didn't and Harry breathed a sign of relief.

"You know," Mrs Weasley said, "When I spoke to Dumbledore this morning, it sounded almost like he was waiting for something like this to happen to Harry."

"Well he's been through a bit." Moody said, "Always a bit off."

"Dumbledore seems worried." Mr Weasley said.

"Well I keep telling him that I don't agree with how he'd playing this." Lily said firmly, "It's not fair on… on any of us."

"Dumbledore is worried about Harry." Mrs Weasley said, equally firmly, "He knows what he's doing."

"And yet the boy is seeing things from inside You-Know-Who's snake's head, if not You-Know-Who himself if he was infecting the beast." Moody growled, "Clearly Potter is too young to know that that means, but if You-Know-Who is possessing _him_..."

Harry pulled out the extendable ear and handed it back to Fred without thinking. His mother didn't have to say anything, Dumbledore had already told them all, or at least Moody. He took two steps back and slid down the wall, trying to stop his heart hammering so loudly. He didn't need to look up to know that everyone was staring at him, with fear in their eyes.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty Four

Harry felt like the world was closing in around him. He was the weapon that Voldemort was after, some how he had attacked Mr Weasley. Everyone had been around him lately, since Dumbledore

would no longer look at him, he thought they were for his protection, but they weren't, they were for everyone else.

That fact of reality smashed into him like a fist, the pain in his chest felt as though his lungs were being crushed.

"Harry?" Lily called, rushing over to him, "Harry what on earth is wrong?"

Harry forced his head up to give her a smile, "Nothing Mum. I'm fine." he wasn't about to get Fred and George in trouble for listening in.

"You look very ill dear. Are you sure you're all right?" Mrs Weasley asked.

Harry forced himself to smile and cheerfully reassure them, "I'm just tired, late night last night you know."

They popped back into the ward to say goodbye to Mr Weasley, who once again thanked Harry for saving him. It made Harry feel like crying, knowing now that there was a good chance he was responsible in the first place.

He tried to ignore the looks that Ron was giving him. Thankfully the others seemed to be focused on working out how Harry couldn't possibly have done this.

They arrived home and Lily told him to go to bed and lay down for a few hours before dinner. Harry smiled gratefully at the excuse not to be around people. Danica was sitting in the living room playing with Fleur and some stuffed animals.

Harry went upstairs and lay on his bed, trying to think things through. He couldn't turn into a snake, that was high level magic and Harry hadn't even tried. Plus this snake was more than big enough to be a python or anaconda but they aren't venomous, so it was a purely magical creature. It was a good job that Danica was so interested in reptiles that he was able to know all this.

Voldemort however, could be powerful enough to transform into such a creature. He could of possessed Harry and then transformed, but then how did Harry get out of Hogwarts? Let alone getting back again in less than a few seconds.

He sat up suddenly, if Voldemort could see inside Harry's head, he was seeing his house, where he was safe, where Danica was safe. He had to go back to Hogwarts for Christmas.

There was a knock on the door just as he was about to get up and start packing up his trunk again. He considered ignoring it but sighed and told them to come in.

"I've known you a fair while now, fifteen and a half years strangely, and I know that that's not your tired face. What's up?" Lily asked, walking over to his bed and patting the space next to her.

Harry sighed and sat down next to her, he didn't say anything.

"You heard what was said in the hospital?" Lily asked.

Harry didn't know how she knew, mother's intuition probably, but he was glad that she did and gave her a small nod.

She sighed, "Harry you can't take what we said at face value, it's part of a much larger conversation."

"It still boils down to the fact that Voldemort is possessing me." Harry said, louder than he meant to, "I'm dangerous to be around."

"I don't believe that." Lily told him firmly, "There are too many inconsistencies."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"Well you remember what happened. People who have been possessed tend to have no memory of what they've done." Lilly told him, "I think… I'm sorry you had to find out that way, Dumbledore is worried that you are too young to know everything right now. We don't all feel the same way."

Harry looked at her, they were the near enough the same height now, he'd grown again since summer, it was a strange realisation for him, "Do you want to tell? Then why don't you?"

"Dumbledore knows more than any of us. He's the one who has all the pieces, it's always been that way. Voldemort is afraid of him and that way if something were to happen to any of us, to get caught, we wouldn't be able to tell them everything, even if we wanted to." Lily tried to explain.

Harry understood, but it still felt wrong to him, "And the more I know, the more Voldemort could get out of my head."

Lily nodded sadly, "Yes. But that's not your fault."

Harry forced a smile, "I was thinking I would go back to school, for Christmas. I don't… I can't put you all in danger. You, Nikka, Sirius, Danica."

"No." Lily said firmly, "I spent two Christmases away from you and I don't plan on missing any more. We are safe here."

"And what does Dumbledore say?" Harry spat, he could feel the rage building inside him again, only he didn't know if it was his anger at Dumbledore or Voldemort's.

Lily pulled him in for a hug, "He wants you to stay here as well. But that has nothing to do with me, as your mother, saying you are spending Christmas with us. I mean, do you want to tell Danica you're running away for Christmas?"

Harry let out a laugh, "Good point. She can be pretty scary."

"Exactly. Now try and get some sleep, or at least rest." Lily told him, kissing his forehead, "I'll send someone to get you when it's dinner time."

Harry was grateful to lie down again, his scar was prickling and he was very tired, he was afraid to sleep though, what if it triggered another attack? Lily had managed to reassure him for the most part, but there were still nagging doubts in his mind.

He closed his eyes and within a second he was sinking once more into shadows, like the vision had been sitting in his mind, just waiting to be allowed to begin.

Harry was walking down a long, empty, dark corridor, heading towards a plain black door, that he desperately needed to reach. He ignored everything but the door, there was a long staircase going down towards the left but it had no interest for Harry, just the door.

There was something behind that door, he knew it. Something that would make all his dreams come true, a prize beyond measure.

"Harry! Wakey wakey!" Danica called, shaking him awake.

Harry's eyes snapped open, disappointed he'd never reached the door.

"What were you dreaming 'bout?" Danica asked, climbing up onto his bed.

Harry shook his head, "Nothing."

"But you was muttering and your eyes were like this." She said, rolling her eyes around to show him.

Harry laughed at her impression, "I don't remember, sorry."

"Draco sent me a letter." Danica said, crossing her arms importantly over her chest, "He says you kissed a girl!"

Harry looked faked shocked at the revelation, "Why would he tell you that?"

"You did you did!" Danica squealed happily, "I knew it! It's gross."

"It is not 'gross'." Harry said, sticking his tongue out, "She's very pretty. I can't believe that Draco ratted me out to you."

"Pretty as me?" Danica asked.

Harry smiled and shook his head, "No. No one is as pretty as you."

Danica grinned and jumped off the bed, straightening her skirt, "Come on, we're going to be late."

Harry climbed out of bed and stretched before taking his little sister's hand and walking down the stairs to the crowded dinning room.

"Everything all right Harry?" Nikka asked, sitting down next to him.

Harry nodded, "Yeah I'm fine. I just woke up, feeling a bit sleepy."

"He was dreaming 'bout kissing a GIRL!" Danica teased, grinning madly.

"Oooo." went round the table and Harry blushed.

"Good on you Harry!" Sirius said, clapping him on the back.

"Sirius! Really!" Lily said, with mock outrage, "He's just a child."

Sirius waved his hand dismissively, "Well what's she like?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Well she's a Quidditch player."

"Naturally." Sirius nodded, Nikka rolling her eyes.

"She's a Ravenclaw. Her name is Cho." Harry said, he couldn't stop grinning.

It was nice, being gently teased by his family and eating the large meal that Kreacher had made them. They weren't scared of him, and he honestly believed that his mother would tell him if she thought there was any chance of him hurting them. 


End file.
